Introduction to war theory, an

In 2012 author Chris Brown gave a lecture to a group of 50 eminent historians. He asked them two questions: had they ever written about war? Of course they all had, history is war. The second was: how many had read a book about the theory of war? There was a resentful silence. This remarkable admission initiated the writing of War Theory. (In the same way the pre-eminent military historian Michael Howard, having lectured young army officers at Sandhurst on the Italian Campaign of 1942, was asked a single question by an impatient captain: OK, but what were its lessons?) Here are those lessons, distilled and refined. Very few books deal with the principles and theory of armed conflict and almost all of those that do are written for the dedicated military specialist and professional. This book is specifically geared for the reader who is starting his or her journey in war theory - students, journalists, junior military professionals - and anyone with a general interest in conflicts in history who would like to know more about how wars actually work.