The Art of War in the Western world

This well written, tightly written tome is 716 very long pages long. It is the history of the logistics, tactics, and strategy of war from the ancient Greeks until the 1980's. It is not easy reading. This is for the advanced student of warfare who wants to know how the tactics of Alexander compare with the Civil War, etc. Many sentences have to be carefully studied to be completely understood. I did not understand a lot of it. But then, I am not a student of warfare. I gave it five stars. Obviously a tremendous amount of work and study went into the writing of this book. Tackle it if you wish.

When hollywood shapes most everyones view of history this outstanding work cuts through the lies, mis-representations and myths to present a lucid, readable and facinating look at how evolution of superior tactical systems and combat arms overthrew the status quo through the ages and caused empires to fall. From such technical innovations such as the stirrup and compound bow came the irresistable Hun and Mongol archers and the Mounted Knight. Tactical innovations such as the Roman Legion's Cohort became the battalion of today.A simple example can illustrate the relevancy of the author's work. He traces the rise and fall of Heavy Infantry as the supreme combat arm of the battle field. Infantry in the form of the Phallanx and Legion were displaced by Heavy Cavalry, only to regain dominance as battalions armed with pikes and then bayonet tipped muskets. Armored vehicles, the new Heavy Cavalry once again gained accendancy, but today we see the infantry once more rising to the fore armed with light weight automatic and antitank weapons. The author helps the layman understand how and why military forces and tactics have changed through 2000 years of history. In so doing he gives us insight into why they look the way they do today, and what forces drive the changes that we see taking place: the push towards lighter and more mobile infantry forces.Just as technical innovations drove the Phallanx from the battlefield in Roman times and massed regiments from the battlefields in the early 1900's, it is driving change today.Light air mobile infantry and armor, and special operations forces are being shaped by technology.This impressive work deserves the widest audience and a place on the bookself of layman and historian alike.

Reading this book you will not become an expert on the art of war of precise historical periods. Nor will you become an outstanding theorist on the art of war itself. But you will have a more complete and detailed understanding of what characterizes the successive eras of warfare and how the art of war changed and evolved in the western world. More than that only, you will understand the succession of factors and the dynamics that determined warfare in the western world. This author uses many notions, concepts and analysis created by other writers before him, which gives a very thourough insight on that subject. If only I knew that a few years ago, I would have bought this book as the beginning of my personal study of warfare. I am not a native english speaking person, but yes, even myself, I noticed that his language is sometimes far from literary norms. Since it is a very "technical" book, simplicity in sentence construction is actually a positive point in this work... which remains very clear even though the subject is a pretty complex one.

Using a very simple and easily understandable matrix to show the co-relations between the different weapons systems, Archer Jones has written a chronological summary of the development in strategy and tactics from early history until today. This uncomplicated model, pared with a wide use of known, historical examples, helps the understanding of the subject, and keeps the reader locked to the stress-less during seven hundred pages. I couldn't put away the book until I finished it. Then I waited a week until I read it for the second time. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the subjects of strategy and tactics as well as to people generally interested in history.

This book is the reflection work of someone with tremendous experience and scholar knwoledge; the kind of work that cannot be done if you don't have years of dedication behind you. The description and evaluation of technological changes and its effect in military conflict is magistral and magisterial. Is not an easy book to read, as a cheap novel; it is far more than that. The depth, clarity an intellectural richness of this major opus is simply enthralling. The capabilities of description of the problems and their evolution and of the solutions to them as a continuum along history are very impresive really. To me this is one of the most rich and challenging books I have gone through ever. Unfortunately, and perhaps, alas!, ominously this wonderful work of science and art is impossible to be bought in Britain.