Overview

This book explores the causes, operations, endings, and justifications of war. In the process, it demolishes many currently fashionable illusions, such as that peace is always preferable to war, that wars occur because of accidents or misunderstandings, and that technology changes the nature of war. Abundant historical and contemporary examples show, the authors contend, that all wars are deliberate political choices, that military operations follow timeless principles, and that, as Aristotle taught, the natural aim of war is victory. This new edition of the book that Eugene Rostow called ""a gem,"" Michael Howard called ""shrewd and trenchant,"" and Library Journal called ""persuasive"" devotes substantial attention to the wars of the post-Cold War period, including ""the war on terrorism.""

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9781574886108

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Reviews

This book was important when we were not at war. Now that we are locked in combat--political, ideological, and military--against terrorists determined to destroy our civilization, Angelo Codevilla's sweeping, incisive treatment of mankind's most persistent scourge is essential reading. --Richard Perle, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former chair of the Defense Policy Board

A provocative review of the many verities about war. A uniquely valuable commentary on war when it first came out, this book became a mainstay of my graduate students education until it went out of print. Now, thankfully, it is back, updated and enhanced by Professor Codevilla so that it is even better. While retaining its timeless parts, there is much new material containing keen insights on post-1991 events and current warfare. It should be indispensable to students of the subject. A wide-ranging, literate, and insightful work. An astonishing achievement of compression . . . a one-volume book on warfare that is actually instructive. This book was important when we were not at war. Now that we are locked in combat--political, ideological, and military--against terrorists determined to destroy our civilization, Angelo Codevilla s sweeping, incisive treatment of mankind s most persistent scourge is essential reading. Dispels any number of misconceptions about the causes of wars and is shrewd in its analysis of the relationship between strategy and operations. -New York Review of Books PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION Dispels any number of misconceptions about the causes of wars and is shrewd in its analysis of the relationship between strategy and operations.

Dispels any number of misconceptions about the causes of wars and is shrewd in its analysis of the relationship between strategy and operations. -New York Review of Books This book was important when we were not at war. Now that we are locked in combat--political, ideological, and military--against terrorists determined to destroy our civilization, Angelo Codevilla s sweeping, incisive treatment of mankind s most persistent scourge is essential reading. A uniquely valuable commentary on war when it first came out, this book became a mainstay of my graduate students education until it went out of print. Now, thankfully, it is back, updated and enhanced by Professor Codevilla so that it is even better. While retaining its timeless parts, there is much new material containing keen insights on post-1991 events and current warfare. It should be indispensable to students of the subject. A wide-ranging, literate, and insightful work. A provocative review of the many verities about war. An astonishing achievement of compression . . . a one-volume book on warfare that is actually instructive. PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION Dispels any number of misconceptions about the causes of wars and is shrewd in its analysis of the relationship between strategy and operations.

An astonishing achievement of compression . . . a one-volume book on warfare that is actually instructive.

Author Information

Angelo Codevilla is a professor of international relations at Boston University and the author of The Character of Nations, among other works. He lives in Wayland, Massachusetts. The late Paul Seabury was a professor of political science at the University of California, Berkeley.

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