ISBN: 9781843543923    Publisher: Atlantic Books Year of publishing: 2008     Format:  Paperback No of Pages: 256        Language: English

Now in paperback, Hew Strachan tells in engaging and vivid detail the story of the most important treatise on war ever written: a book that has been blamed for the unprecedented death tolls in the First and Second World Wars."On War" by Carl von Clausewitz was first published in Germany after the Napoleonic Wars. One of the most significant treatises on military strategy ever written, it is still prescribed at various military academies today. Its description of 'absolute war' and its insistence on the centrality of battle to war have been blamed for the level of destruction involved in both the First and Second World Wars.Hew Strachan's accessible book challenges the popular misconceptions that surround "On War". He dispels the notion that for Clausewitz policy necessarily shapes war, asserting instead that war has its own dynamic and that its reciprocal effects can themselves shape policy. Strachan returns to the very heart of "On War" to recover the arguments at its core; in the process challenging the received wisdom about this cornerstone of military strategy.
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Hew Strachan is Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford, and a Fellow of All Souls College. He has published widely on war: his most recent works include The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms, published in 2001 to widespread critical acclaim, and The First World War: A New Illustrated History, which was published in 2003.
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