On War (Three Volumes in One)
Published on 13. November 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
588 pages
978-1-64679-284-9 (ISBN)
Description
"War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instrument, a continuation of political commerce, a carrying out of the same by other means." -Carl von Clausewitz, On War, 1832
On War is Carl von Clausewitz' masterpiece on war and military strategy, which was written between 1816 and 1830 and was published posthumously by his wife Marie von Clausewitz (née von Brühl) in 1832.
Three main concepts of war stand out: war should be seen as an instrument of politics; the military objectives in war that support one's political objectives fall into two types: "war to achieve limited aims" and war to "disarm" the enemy; and the course of war will tend to favor the party with the stronger emotional and political motivations, but especially the defender.
This edition is the classical translation of On War (1873) by Col. J.J. Graham, with a preface by Marie von Clausewitz and the three main volumes of this work included in one book. A must-read for military historians and theorists, policy makers, and anyone interested in understanding the philosophy and concepts of war.
More details
Language
English
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 34 mm
Weight
819 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64679-284-9 (9781646792849)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Carl von Clausewitz (1780 - 1831) was a Prussian general and military theorist who stressed the "moral" (in modern terms, psychological) and political aspects of war. His most notable work, Vom Kriege (On War), was unfinished at his death. Clausewitz was a realist and, while in some respects a romantic, also drew heavily on the rationalist ideas of the European Enlightenment. He stressed the dialectical interaction of diverse factors, noting how unexpected developments unfolding under the "fog of war" (i.e., in the face of incomplete, dubious, and often completely erroneous information and high levels of fear, doubt, and excitement) call for rapid decisions by alert commanders. He saw history as a vital check on erudite abstractions that did not accord with experience. He argued that war could not be quantified or reduced to map-work, geometry, and graphs. Clausewitz had many aphorisms, of which the most famous is "War is the continuation of politics by other means."