4 ms·

Have you read Clausewitz On War? That was one of my favorite books last year. This is more general than you are looking for and it stops a bit short of air war

Have you read Clausewitz On War? That was one of my favorite books last year. This is more general than you are looking for and it stops a bit short of air war but it helped me to put historical events into a global context. The outline of history; being a plain history of life and mankind. Rev. and brought up to date by Raymond Postgate and G.P. Wells. With maps and plans by J.F. Horrabin. Wells, H. G. 1866-1946. (Herbert George), Garden City, N.Y. Doubleday 1971, Book. 1103p., D21 .W4 1971 I'd say definitely search for books written about Iraq and Afghanistan, that should give you some information about current strategies.

niels_olson 18y ago
If you want to understand the context behind all other books on military strategy written since Clausewitz (any book written in the last hundred years), you must read Clausewitz. If you want to understand why the US Army was so dead set on failing to anticipate the next war and continued to train for symmetric war until very recently, you must read Clausewitz. If you want to understand why the new Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual written by General Petraeus, Lt General Amos, and Lt Colonel Nagl is so celebrated, you must read Clausewitz. You should also read Petraeus et al's Counterinsurgency Field Manual. The difference in tone and scope is staggering. If you want to understand military strategy going forward, you must understand Petraeus's book. I assure you, it is on the nightstand of the President and every military officer (and not because it says that on the cover, but because I'm one of them). If you are running a startup, read the Petraeus book as though you are the insurgent. If you are at MSFT or Google, read it as though you are in the US Army.
- jmatt 18y ago
  FM 3-24 MCWP 3-33.5 COUNTERINSURGENCY DAVID H. PETRAEUS http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-24.pdf http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-24.pdf
  - niels_olson 18y ago
    I think you will find the Chicago Press version a bit more readable: http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Corps-Counterinsurgency-Field-Manual/dp/0226841510 http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Corps-Counterinsurgency-Field-M...
- yters 18y ago
  You might also want to read Nagl's book: "How to Eat Soup with a Knife." (who knows how that period/quotation thing works...) Anyways, he covers insurgencies fought unsuccessfully by Americans and successfully by the British, and why they succeeded and failed. Nagl doesn't come out and say the reasons are X, Y, Z. It's more here are important events A, B, C and here are important structural and cultural facts about the militaries that can help explain them. Another book to read is "A Savage War of Peace." It describes the Algerian insurgency during French rule. While Petraeus based his strategy in Iraq on the French's strategy, it is also relevant due to the strong similarity between what happened with the French populace and what is happening with our own.
barry-cotter 18y ago
The author said he'd read Vom Kriege, which is Clausewitz's "On War"

niels_olson 18y ago

If you want to understand the context behind all other books on military strategy written since Clausewitz (any book written in the last hundred years), you must read Clausewitz. If you want to understand why the US Army was so dead set on failing to anticipate the next war and continued to train for symmetric war until very recently, you must read Clausewitz. If you want to understand why the new Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual written by General Petraeus, Lt General Amos, and Lt Colonel Nagl is so celebrated, you must read Clausewitz. You should also read Petraeus et al's Counterinsurgency Field Manual. The difference in tone and scope is staggering. If you want to understand military strategy going forward, you must understand Petraeus's book. I assure you, it is on the nightstand of the President and every military officer (and not because it says that on the cover, but because I'm one of them). If you are running a startup, read the Petraeus book as though you are the insurgent. If you are at MSFT or Google, read it as though you are in the US Army.

jmatt 18y ago
FM 3-24 MCWP 3-33.5 COUNTERINSURGENCY DAVID H. PETRAEUS http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-24.pdf http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-24.pdf
- niels_olson 18y ago
  I think you will find the Chicago Press version a bit more readable: http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Corps-Counterinsurgency-Field-Manual/dp/0226841510 http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Corps-Counterinsurgency-Field-M...
yters 18y ago
You might also want to read Nagl's book: "How to Eat Soup with a Knife." (who knows how that period/quotation thing works...) Anyways, he covers insurgencies fought unsuccessfully by Americans and successfully by the British, and why they succeeded and failed. Nagl doesn't come out and say the reasons are X, Y, Z. It's more here are important events A, B, C and here are important structural and cultural facts about the militaries that can help explain them. Another book to read is "A Savage War of Peace." It describes the Algerian insurgency during French rule. While Petraeus based his strategy in Iraq on the French's strategy, it is also relevant due to the strong similarity between what happened with the French populace and what is happening with our own.

barry-cotter 18y ago

The author said he'd read Vom Kriege, which is Clausewitz's "On War"