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On War: The Classic Book of Military Strategy
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"American Culture Transformed offers an interesting sampling of the cultural landscape in America after 9/11. The authors provide compelling snapshots of iconic moments and figures from the military, economics, the arts, and politics. The book will stir memories and make us uncomfortable again."
- Mary Poovey, New York University
--This text refers to an alternate
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- Mary Poovey, New York University
About the Author
Beatrice Heuser, Professor, University of the German Federal Armed Forces, Munich. Michael Howard, Emeritus Professor of Modern History, Oxford University and Yale University.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Carl von Clausewitz is required reading at the War Colleges of the United States Armed Forces because his precepts are timeless. Trying to understand why man makes war, especially in the extremely destructive era in which he lived, he explores all aspects of warfare. This work is written for military officers, and exemplifies the aphorism of a classic: it's a book people want to have read, but don't want to read. This antipathy is understandable. Clausewitz was a staff officer in the army of a state which no longer exists, and he wrote in 19th century German. Still, this book is essential to all who wish to understand war and its place in statecraft.
Rather than this Penguin edition, I recommend the Princeton University Press edition, translated and edited by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. That version includes very helpful essays and introductions by those two academics, as well as Bernard Brodie. Together, these three help the reader understand what Clausewitz was writing, and gently remind the reader that he should be somewhat forgiving of the author. After all, he had only just begun a major renovation of his entire work when he was felled by the cholera epidemic that struck Europe.
If you are interested in Clausewitz, READ HIM. Do not join the illiterati who quote and misquote him without ever reading On War. While it is not an easy read, the Princeton University edition is readable, and On War is the most important book on the most serious of political subjects.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Clausewitz's ON WAR is truly one of the Great Books of Western thought. Unfortunately, THIS edition is NOT the one to buy. This is the weirdly edited and seriously misleading Penguin edition put together by Anatol Rapoport in 1968. Rapoport was a biologist and musician -- indeed, something of a renaissance man and later a brilliant game theorist. However, he was extremely hostile to the state system and to the alleged "neo-Clausewitzian," Henry Kissinger. He severely and misleadingly abridged an old but respectable translation (done by JJ Graham in 1873) but -- for reasons that surpasseth understanding -- he retained the often bizaare introduction, commentary, and notes inserted in 1908 by an imperialist and social-Darwinist editor (COL FN Maude) -- and then used Maude's errors to condemn Clausewitzian theory. Between Graham's awkward and obsolete translation, Maude's anachronistic intrusions, and Rapoport's hostility (aimed more at the world in general, and at Kissinger in particular, than at Clausewitz personally), the Penguin edition is badly misleading as to Clausewitz's own ideas. If you have any version of the Graham or Graham/Maude translation, but especially this twisted Penguin version, I'd advise you to get the modern Howard/Paret edition [ISBN 0691018545 for paperback; in hardcover 0679420436 (recommended) or 0679420436].
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By "alynder"
Format:Paperback
Most of you are likely familiar with the work of Sun Tzu, and a comparison is, I think, inevitable. Sun Tzu functioned as a very talented advisor, but Carl discusses at length much of what he learnt in his time in the trenches, practicising the Art of War.
This perspective is very illuminating as he discusses the political ramifications of war (war as an instrument of policy), as well as discussing the various problems that a leader in the field faces (including what he calls 'friction'). Unlike Sun Tzu, I feel that Carl's understanding may well have been deeper, and Carl's explainations are more to the point, rather than anaecdotal and poetic.
I know I sound harsh when discussing Sun Tzu. Sun Tzu was an excellent thinker, but it is Carl's work that has kept me thinking about some basic but fundamental concepts for well over a year. This book is easily worth your time. But I should warn you, this book is not for the faint of heart. The language is particularly difficult, even more difficult than that of the Art of War.
My only complaint about the book is that Carl died while it most it's chapters were still in draft!
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3.8 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
AVOID the Penguin Edition of "On War"
AVOID THE PENGUIN EDITION AT ALL COSTS! Yes, it is the most widely available version of Clausewitz' famous work, "On War", a great book that should be in everyone's... Read more
Published on July 19 2004
3.0 out of 5 stars
hard to read
I don't know if the translation is bad or Clausewitz could not express himself clearly but the book is hard to read. Read more
Published on July 1 2004 by Svetoslav Tassev
1.0 out of 5 stars
On War (Penguin)
The book itself is unquestionably a classic. Anyone interested in strategy should read it. However, this translation is amongst the worst. Read more
Published on Mar 29 2004 by "scipiotr"
5.0 out of 5 stars
The traditional Western approach to conflict
On War is the classic book on the Western approach to conflict...direct...mechanical. Clausewitz wrote this book when military chain of commands were based upon the classical... Read more
Published on Mar 13 2003 by LostBoyinNC
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hard work, but worth the effort.
Not really a relaxing bedtime read. On War is challenging, and not to be undertaken lightly. Still, its concepts are eminently more utile than Sun Tzu's, when all is said and... Read more
Published on Jan 26 2003 by Arthem
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book to read many times
I am not a specialist on war matters and least of all interested in such a stuff. But "On War" is one of a kind and useful to, and readable by, both the war strategist as... Read more
Published on Jan 2 2003 by Roberto P. De Ferraz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Will Add Value To Your Life!
Ranked up there with the Prince, and The Art of War. The main benefit to this book is that it exposes the reality that Political agendas dictate War strategy. Read more
Published on Nov 20 2002 by Aaron C. Padgett
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book--But Get A Different Version
The first time I read Carl von Clausewitz's classic "On War" was in college. Reading it again, some eleven years later, I certainly was impressed anew with the thoughts Clausewitz... Read more
Published on July 27 2002 by Pejman Yousefzadeh
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent but dry read
Clauswitz's insights of Nepolionic warfare from the tactical to the operational to the strategic level are extremely enlightening and quite relevant today, exactly 170 years after... Read more
Published on April 17 2002 by "biigir"
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic, but....read Sun Tzu also!
This book, above all, justifies itself for its dictum about war baing the continuation of politics by other means. Read more
Published on April 16 2002 by C. E. R. Mendonça
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