Clausewitzian
Chieftain
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2007
- Messages
- 90
The greatest books of all time on history and/or the military
Which do you consider to be the best and/or your favorite. Please state the title, its author and give a brief synopsis of its contents for those of us who don't know it. And tell whatever other tidbits you want to share.
For instance:
(military)
The Art of War by Sun Tzu:
Timeless masterpiece that gives a very concise overview of many high- and low level aspects you need to consider when waging war. Ignore the added comments by later chinese commentators, they usually detract or add confusion to the flow of ideas. Requires enough intelligence to move ancient world examples to the modern battlefield, but the points made remain valid today. Said to have been Mao's bible on how he conducted the communist uprising in China. Overly enthsiastic amateurs will quote some obscure line or verse from Sun Tzu and think they've said something profound.
On War by Von Clausewitz:
Semi philosophical investigation into the nature of war and the practical consequences thereof in warfare. Clausewitz, who personally participated in many of the Napoleonic era wars, died just as he was starting to complety rewrite the manuscript. Had he finished, we would have had a much shorter, more consistent book. Here some knowledge of Napoleonic era warfare is helpfull to translate his examples to the modern era.
Take comments from its detractors with a heavy pinch of salt. They'll usually say "Clauswtitz said XYZ" when in reality, if you read it in Clausewitz's context, he meant something rather different. His concept of absolute war in particular gets much abuse, up to and including the claim that many of the evils of WWI were a consequence of the adoption of his thoughts. Interestingly, a basic outline of the von Schlieffen plan can be found in the last section of his work.
The book is presently used as the cornerstone from which the modern day US army (and marine core) examine and discuss their military doctrine. You don't get more relevant than that!
Now its your turn. You wouldn't be here if you didn't have a couple of favorites of your own. Please do share them with us.
Which do you consider to be the best and/or your favorite. Please state the title, its author and give a brief synopsis of its contents for those of us who don't know it. And tell whatever other tidbits you want to share.
For instance:
(military)
The Art of War by Sun Tzu:
Timeless masterpiece that gives a very concise overview of many high- and low level aspects you need to consider when waging war. Ignore the added comments by later chinese commentators, they usually detract or add confusion to the flow of ideas. Requires enough intelligence to move ancient world examples to the modern battlefield, but the points made remain valid today. Said to have been Mao's bible on how he conducted the communist uprising in China. Overly enthsiastic amateurs will quote some obscure line or verse from Sun Tzu and think they've said something profound.
On War by Von Clausewitz:
Semi philosophical investigation into the nature of war and the practical consequences thereof in warfare. Clausewitz, who personally participated in many of the Napoleonic era wars, died just as he was starting to complety rewrite the manuscript. Had he finished, we would have had a much shorter, more consistent book. Here some knowledge of Napoleonic era warfare is helpfull to translate his examples to the modern era.
Take comments from its detractors with a heavy pinch of salt. They'll usually say "Clauswtitz said XYZ" when in reality, if you read it in Clausewitz's context, he meant something rather different. His concept of absolute war in particular gets much abuse, up to and including the claim that many of the evils of WWI were a consequence of the adoption of his thoughts. Interestingly, a basic outline of the von Schlieffen plan can be found in the last section of his work.
The book is presently used as the cornerstone from which the modern day US army (and marine core) examine and discuss their military doctrine. You don't get more relevant than that!
Now its your turn. You wouldn't be here if you didn't have a couple of favorites of your own. Please do share them with us.
