That dissertation is available at University of Oxford and in Germany. The Naval War College does not have a copy of it, but does hold a book written by Nagl, based on his PhD dissertation. That book is Learning to eat soup with a knife : counterinsurgency lessons from Malaya and Vietnam / John A. Nagl ; with a new preface by the author ; foreword by General Peter J. Schoomaker. An online review of the book states:
This book evolved from his doctoral thesis; the title is a quotation from Lawrence of Arabia. In it, LTC Nagl considers the question of how armies adapt to changing circumstances during the course of conflicts for which they have not been prepared; or more bluntly, why the American Army had such a hard time in Vietnam. Army Chief of Staff Peter J. Schoomaker liked the book so much that he ordered copies for every four-star general and contributed a foreword to the second edition.
We would be happy to lend the book to you via interlibrary loan. Simply request it at your base library or local public library.
