The Mercenary Army of Blackwater/Xe - Privatizing War

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Privatizing War
By an Amazon.com customer

	Licensed to Kill: Hired Guns in the War on Terror by Robert Young Pelton Buy used from: $3.63 A must-have book on "guns with legs" and the men behind them. While not an academic work with footnotes and references, the journalist-author has tremendous access to all players and is straight-up on the facts.
	Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns by Janice E. Thomson Buy new: $30.95 / Used from: $17.50 A must-have, hands down. If you had only one book to learn about the history of private military force, this is without a doubt the book to read.
	The Market for Force: The Consequences of Privatizing Security by Deborah D. Avant Buy new: $33.29 / Used from: $16.00 A must-have book for anyone wanting to get into more detail behind PMCs. Her civil-military relations background contributes to make this an excellent and wide-ranging study.
	Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs) by P.W. Singer Buy used from: $1.88 The default read, it is a good book to open your eyes on the subject. I recommend you have it mostly because everybody else has it. This way you know what most think they know about PMCs.
	The Sea Rover's Practice: Pirate Tactics and Techniques, 16301730 by Benerson Little Buy new: $20.90 / Used from: $16.67 An excellent read to set history straight on pirates, parallels with modern PSCs (and irregular warfare) abound. Multi-racial and democratic, these early private military enterprises show what can happen when nationalism is out of the picture.
	A Bloody Business: America's War Zone Contractors and the Occupation of Iraq by Gerry Schumacher Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $6.50 A recommended read that personalizes contractors, with long narrations by the contractors themselves. Fails to acknowledge the real politics behind using PSCs, but this is understandable since the purpose was to humanize contractors and not get into esoteric reasons of why. There is an interesting chapter on a PSD taking (necessarily) the law into their own hands.
	The Abolition of Privateering and the Declaration of Paris by Francis R. Stark Buy new: $24.50 / Used from: $21.00 Written in 1897, it provides a great period knowledge and perspective not available in later works. More important is the information on the broad use, impact, and deep understanding of privatization by governments. This book is a hidden gem on how privatization then is different than now. Further, it contributes to an understanding of why privatization went by the wayside.