Introduction; 1. War and strategy at the beginning of the twenty-first century; 2. The meaning of strategy: historical perspectives; 3. The case for Clausewitz: reading 'On War' today; 4. Making strategy work: civil-military relations in Britain and the United States; 5. Strategy and the limitation of war; 6. Europe armies and limited war; 7. The limitations of strategic culture: the case of the British way in warfare; 8. Maritime strategy and national policy; 9. Technology and strategy; 10. War is war: imperial legacies and current conflicts; 11. Strategy and the operational level of war; 12. Strategy and contingency; 13. Strategy: change and continuity.
A major contribution to our understanding of contemporary warfare and strategy by one of the world's leading military historians.
Hew Strachan is Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College. Between 2004 and 2012 he was the Director of the Oxford Programme on the Changing Character of War. He also serves on the Strategic Advisory Panel of the Chief of the Defence Staff, on the UK Defence Academy Advisory Board, and on the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Foreign Policy listed him as one of the most influential global thinkers for 2012 and he was knighted in the New Year's Honours for 2013. His books include the first volume of his projected three-volume work The First World War (2001), which was awarded two American military history prizes and nominated for the Glenfiddich Scottish book of the year; The First World War: A New Illustrated History (2003), published to accompany a ten-part television series for Channel 4 and nominated for a British Book Award; and Carl von Clausewitz's On War (2007). His recent edited volumes include The Changing Character of War (2011) and How Fighting Ends (2012).
'A very thoughtful, enormously stimulating, and hugely
thought-provoking examination of the strategies, concepts, and
civil-military relationships that have influenced the character of
war in the twenty-first century.' General David H. Petraeus, former
Commander of United States Central Command and Commanding General
of the Multi-National Force - Iraq and the NATO International
Security Assistance Force, Afghanistan
'Another masterpiece from the foremost military academic of our
generation. If you want to understand strategy, just read this
book!' General Sir David Richards GCB CBE DSO, former Chief of
Defence Staff
'Unparalleled in historic depth of argument, a surprising yet
seductive view on whether modern war should bend to the demands of
politics, or politics to the needs of war.' Jan Willem Honig,
King's College London
'Strachan's historical analyses are a valuable addition to the
literature on strategy. He invites the reader to think carefully
about what we think we know and understand about strategy, and,
perhaps more significantly, why we understand and think about
strategy the way we do today.' Terry Terriff, University of
Calgary
'A valuable book tracing an esteemed scholar's contributions to
contemporary strategic thinking.' Antulio Echevarria, Strategic
Studies Institute, United States Army War College
'[A] powerful and stimulating essay about the conduct of war and
peace in our time. It is an essential read for MPs and hacks, the
ideal primer for the debate about why we need armed force, and in
what form, today.' London Evening Standard
'Impressive and provocative.' Daily Telegraph
'… a timely and devastating critique.' Richard Norton-Taylor, The
Guardian online
'… extremely well written …' Jerry Lenaburg, New York Journal of
Books
'[Strachan's] insistence on Clausewitzian exactitude produces a
uniquely incisive assessment of key moments in America's
twenty-first-century wars that may be particularly valuable to
American leadership as it leaves them behind.' Foreign Policy's
'The Best Defense' blog
'… offers much good sense.' Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs
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