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Title: Strategy by B.H. Hart, Liddell Hart, Stephen King ISBN: 0-451-13426-5 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: June, 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.22 (36 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: As relevant today as in acient times
Comment: B. H. Lidell Hart has written a masterpiece in "Strategy". His survey of history and it's successful generals all point to one, irrepressible conclusion; that to win, you must do the unexpected. Hart's main contention is that from acient to modern times, the generals who win, and win consistently, do so not by beating their heads against impregnable positions or trying to bring the enemy's main body to battle by direct action. Instead, he argues that in war, the object is to achieve victory at the least cost--in other words, use economy of force. The "indirect method" which he speaks of has been tested over time, and has proven itself repeatedly. Of the truly decisive campaigns from all of history, 90% of them were won, not by direct assault, but by maneuver, cunning, and by forcing an enemy army to prepare for multiple contingencies. In short, this book is not a handguide to winning a war, and does not present itself as such. What Hart does is show what history's successful captains have done, and leaves the reader to draw his own conclusions, and apply the facts that Hart presents. Overall, a well-written survery of military history that tests many of our preconcieved notions military success.
Rating: 5
Summary: a masterpiece -- still
Comment: Here Liddell Hart sums up his principles of strategy, illustrating his ideas with examples throughout history. Critics have claimed, with some justice, that he got too wrapped up in his major idea, the "indirect approach," and oversimplified the campaigns he reviewed here to bolster his point. What a reader must realize, however, is that by the time this book was written, much of Liddell Hart's approach had been battle-tested, with spectacular results: among those who credited him were Guderian, Rommel, and Montgomery. If his "indirect approach" is not universally effective, especially against opponents who have also read the book, it is still brilliant and valuable.
Liddell Hart seems to have fallen into disfavor in U.S. military circles, to a degree that cannot be explained simply by his disagreement with Clausewitz about the necessity of destroying the main force of the enemy. While not crediting him, the U.S. applied an indirect approach, emphasizing rapid maneuver, with great success in the Gulf War. Perhaps the explanation lies in a careful reading of the last chapter, added in the 1967 edition, in which he suggests that counter-guerilla warfare must aim to disrupt the guerillas' sources of supply and liaison with allied regular forces nearby -- in short, to win, the U.S. needed to isolate the battlefield. Maybe the U.S. thinkers didn't want to hear this -- and it hasn't helped that, once again, he was absolutely right.
So, by all means, read this book carefully. But then also read
his critics. Nobody, even Liddell Hart (or Clausewitz, or Sun Tzu) had all the answers, and the art of applying past principles to future conflicts keeps changing.
Rating: 4
Summary: A masterpiece of theory from from a master strategist
Comment: An early tank warfare theorist, Liddell Hart championed the cause of mobility in the field and rapid deployment. Largely ignored by the British, his theories were put into practice by the German High Command, which was influenced by Liddell Hart in their plans for Blitzkrieg in WWII. It wasn't until the North African Campaign, when O'Connor rolled backed Graziani's "grey tide" of Italians by rapid movement, capturing thousands of previously victorious Axis troops, that the British took Liddell Hart seriously enough to put his theories to use on the offensive. When the Americans arrived, the Allies were ready to face Rommel, who had also steeped himself in Liddell Hart's theories. The drama of the campaign in central North Africa is, in part, the drama of two sides using different versions of the author's theories. In "Strategy," we have the thoughts of the mature man, one who has seen that the atomic bomb can stop a rapid deployment in its tracks, and who realizes that the West's military superiority over the rest of the world will end with the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
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Title: On War by Karl Von Clausewitz, Carl Von Clausewitz, Carl Von Clausewitz, Anatol Rapoport ISBN: 0140444270 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: November, 1982 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Art of Maneuver : Maneuver Warfare Theory and Airland Battle by Robert Leonhard ISBN: 0891415327 Publisher: Presidio Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1994 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon by B. H. Liddell Hart, Michael Grant ISBN: 0306805839 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: September, 1994 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
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Title: One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies by Ralph D. Sawyer, Mai-Chun Sawyer, Chi Pai Chan Chi Lueh Liu, Mei-Chun Sawyer, Mai-Ch Sawyer ISBN: 0813328616 Publisher: Westview Press Pub. Date: June, 1998 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: History of the Second World War by Basil Henry Liddell Hart, B. Liddell Hart, Henry Basil, Constance Kritzberg ISBN: 0306809125 Publisher: DaCapo Press Pub. Date: April, 1999 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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