Carl von Clausewitz
If you’re like me, you probably rolled your eyes at every mention of Sun Tzu’s Art of War during the 80s and 90s. (Wall Street, the Sopranos, Die Another Day, … I’m sure there’s more of them.) Don’t get me wrong, it deserves a spot on any strategy geek’s bookshelf. But for my money, a far more interesting author is a
Mr. Carl von Clausewitz.
I have a distinct memory, as a teenager, of seeing Clausewitz’s name in print while reading a novel. The protagonist, a “proper gentleman” of European aristocracy, planned to “read a Chapter of Clausewitz” before retiring for the evening. I can’t explain why the phrase struck. But it did.
Years later I noticed a worn book, bound in old-school green leather, in a garage sale. Somebody had REALLY studied him – seemingly every other page was dog-eared as if the reader was keeping track of particularly interesting nuggets.
“On War” is readable – but dense. His theories are cited quite often in popular literature, especially “War is the continuation of Politik by other means”. He covers a lot of material across eight main chapters:
- On the Nature of War
- Basic Theory
- Strategy – General Concepts
- Engagements
- Military Force Makeup
- Defensive Concepts
- Offensive Concepts
- War Planning
The third chapter on General Concepts is the most illuminating. It doesn’t concern tactics per se but instead delves into the moral and psychological aspects of – let’s face it – a horrifying prospect for most humans: courage, patriotism, boldness, perseverance (I prefer the word “grit”), general superiority of numbers, surprise & cunning, concentration of forces, having a reserve force, states of rest and equilibrium, and so on.
If you have an interest in strategy or even human behavior, you could do worse than to become familiar with Mr. Clausewitz.
