Battle Studies is a classic military study, written by an obscure French colonel of a defeated army, Ardant du Picq, a colonel in the French Army who was killed in 1870 in the Franco-Prussian War. It offers a valuable account of the defeat caused by the neglect of those fundamental principles necessary for victory. The theme of the book, according to Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch, is that "moral force" is the most powerful element in the strength...