How and why do armed rebellions start? This study offers a rare look into the incipient stages of rebellion, arguing that only rebel groups controlling local rumor networks survive and become viable challengers to governments. It is a valuable resource for both scholars and policymakers of political science.

Why do only some incipient rebel groups become viable challengers to governments? Only those that control local rumor networks survive.

'This is the book we have all been waiting for! Lewis's extraordinary research reveals the origins of rebel groups long before they emerge as viable, visible forces. Using micro-level data from Uganda, Lewis carefully analyzes where and when even the smallest groups form, why only a few of them survive, and how local intelligence determines whether they grow or perish. Nascent rebel groups all have the motive to rebel. But it's only the ones that control local information networks (and these are almost always concentrated ethnic groups) that endure.' Barbara F. Walter, University of California, San Diego