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University of California Press

About the Book

This engrossing anthology gathers together a remarkable collection of writings on the use of strategy in war. Gérard Chaliand has ranged over the whole of human history in assembling this collection—the result is an integration of the annals of military thought that provides a learned framework for understanding global political history.

Included are writings from ancient and modern Europe, China, Byzantium, the Arab world, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire. Alongside well-known militarists such as Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Walter Raleigh, Rommel, and many others are "irregulars" such as Cortés, Lawrence of Arabia, and even Gandhi. Contrary to standard interpretations stressing competition between land and sea powers, or among rival Christian societies, Chaliand shows the great importance of the struggles between nomadic and sedentary peoples, and of the conflicts between Christianity and Islam. With the invention of firepower, a relatively recent occurrence in the history of warfare, modes of organization and strategic concepts—elements reflecting the nature of a society—have been key to how war is waged.

Unparalleled in its breadth, this anthology will become the standard work for understanding a fundamental part of human history—the conduct of war.

"This anthology is not only an unparalleled corpus of information and an aid to failing memory; it is also and above all a reliable and liberating guide for research. . . . Ranging "from the origins to the nuclear age," it compels us to widen our narrow perspectives on conflicts and strategic action and open ourselves up to the universal."—from the Foreword

About the Author

Gérard Chaliand is an internationally known specialist on strategy. Since 1960 he has been a participant-observer of guerrilla movements throughout Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. He teaches at the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre in Paris. He has previously taught at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration in Paris, and at Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Capetown, Meiji University in Tokyo, and the University of Quebec, among others. The author of many works of scholarship and three volumes of poetry, he is the editor of Guerrilla Strategies: An Historical Anthology from the Long March to Afghanistan (California, 1982).

Table of Contents


List of maps 
Foreword by Lucien Poirier 
Preface to the American edition 
Preliminary Note 
Warfare and Strategic Cultures in History
by Gerard Chaliand 
1. THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
The Kadesh Inscription (c. 1295 B.c.)
The Battle of Kadesh 
Deuteronomy (eighth-sixth centuries B.c.)
The Conduct of War 
The Dead Sea Scrolls (first century B.c.?)
The War Rule 
2. GREECE AND ROME
Thucydides (c. 460-c. 399 B.c.)
The Dispute over Corcyra 
Pericles' Reply to the Spartan Ultimatum 
Xenophon (c. 426-c. 354 B.c.)
The Expedition of Cyrus 
The Duties of a Cavalry Commander 
Polybius (c. 202-c. 120 B.c.)
The Battle of Lake Trasimene 
The Battle of Cannae 
Julius Caesar (c. 101-44 B.c.)
The Siege of Massilia 
The Battle of Pharsalus 132
Sallust (c. 86-c. 35 B.c.)
Guerrilla Warfare 
Josephus (c. A.D. 37-c. 100)
The Organization of the Roman Army 
Onasander (first century A.D.)
The General 
Plutarch (c. A.D. 46-c. 120)
An Absolute Disaster 
Tacitus (c. A.D. 55-c. 120)
War and the Germans 
Germanicus' s Campaigns on the Rhine 
Arrian (c. A.D. 92-175)
The Battle ofissus 
The Battle of Gaugamela 
The War against Porus 
Cassius Dio (c. A.D. 155-235?)
The Battle of Actium 
Flavius Vegetius (late fourth century A.D.)
Dispositions for Action 
3.CHINA
Sun Zi (fourth century B.c.)
TheArtofWar 
Shang Yang (fourth century B.c.)
The Book of Lord Shang 239
Ssu-ma Ch'ien (c. 145-c. 86 B.c.)
LordShang 
Tien Tan 
Lien Po and Lin Hsiang-ju 
Chang Liang, Marquis of Liu 
The Marquis ofHuai-yin (Han Hsin) 
4· INDIA
Kautilya (fourth century B.c.?)
The Six-fold Policy 
The Work of an Invader 
Concerning a Powerful Enemy 
Strategic Means to Capture a Fortress 
5· BYZANTIUM
Procopius (c. A.D. 500-565?)
The Persian War 335
The Gothic War 341
Maurildos(c.A.D.539-602)
Strategy 348
Leo VI (A.D. 865-912)
Tactics 356
Liutprand (c. A.D. 920-972)
The Use of Greek Fire against the Rus 
Kritovoulos (c. 1410-?)
The Fall of Constantinople 
6. THE ARAB WORLD
The Koran (seventh century)
On Holy War 
Al-Muttaqi' al-Hindi (1477-1567)
Sayings Ascribed to the Prophet 
Al-Bukhari (810-870)
Sayings Ascribed to the Prophet 
Al-Tabari (c. 838-923)
Abu Bakr on the Rules of War 
Conquest 
The Battle of Kadisaya 
The Battle of Karbala' 
Ibn al-Athir (1160-1233)
The Battle of Hittin 
Baha' ad-Din Ibn Shaddad (1145-1234)
The Fall of Acre 
Ibn Hudhayl al-Andalusi (fourteenth century)
Principles of War 
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)
Bedouins and Sedentary People 
The Admiralty 
Methods of Waging War Practiced by the Various Nations 
7· PERSIA
Kai Ka'us Ibn Iskandar (c. 1020-1085)
On Giving Battle to an Enemy 
The Art of Controlling an Armed Force 
Nizam al-Mulk (1018-1092)
The Book of Government 
Al-Rawandi (thirteenth century)
Conduct of War, Conduct of Battle 
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201-1274)
The Use of War 
Mubarakshah (c. 1150-1224)
The Rules of War and Bravery 
Sa'di (c. 1209-1291)
On War 
8. THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Ottoman Chronicle (fourteenth century)
The Origin of the ]anissaries 
Busbecq (1522-1592)
The Sultan in the Field 
9. MONGOLIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
Ibn al-Athir (1160-1233)
The Coming of the Mongols 
John ofPlano Carpino (c. 1182-1252)
How Mongols Fight 
How to Fight Mongols 
Ata Malik al-Juwayni (1226-1283)
The Mongols in Iran 
Timur (1336-1405)
The Conquest of Dehli 
Babur (1483-1530)
The Conquest of H industan 
10. LIMITED WARS IN THE WEST
Jean Froissart (c. 1337-1404?)
The Battle of Crecy 
Hernan Cortes (1485-1547)
The Siege ofT(mochtitlan 
Francisco de Jerez (c. 1497-?)
The Capture of Atahuallpa 
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Of Different Kinds ofTroops 
The Art of War 
War and Political Strategy 
On the Object of War and the Use of Victory 
Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540)
The Perfection of the French Artillery 
Walter Raleigh (1554-1618)
Sea Warfare and the Defense of England 
Richard Hakluyt (c. 1553-1616)
The Destruction of the Spanish Armada 
Due de Richelieu (1585-1642)
On Sea Power 
Sebastien de Vauban (1633-1707)
General Rules or Maxims for Attacking a Fortress 
Treatise on the Attack and Defense of Fortresses 
Raimondo de Montecuccoli (1608-1681)
Military Considerations 
Jean de Folard (1669-1752)
On Column Order 
On Defensive War 
On Mountain War 
Peter the Great (1672-1725)
"Testament" 
Maurice de Saxe (1696-1750)
Reveries on the Art of War 
Frederick the Great (1712-1786)
Military Instructions for the Generals 
Henry Lloyd (1729-1783)
Armies, Ancient and Modern 
Jacques de Guibert (1743-1790)
Introduction to the Essai general de tactique 
n. THEAGEOFTOTAL WARS
Lazare Carnot (1753-1823)
On the Defense of Fortified Places 
To Michaud, Commander of the Army of the Rhine 
The Current Campaign on the Northern Frontiers 
Horatio Nelson (1758-1805)
The Trafalgar Memorandum 
Duke ofWellington (1769-1852)
Two Letters 
Napoleon (1769-1821)
Maxims (1) 
Maxims (2) 
Geopolitics (from the memoirs of Las Cases) 
Denis Davydov (17B4-1B39)
On Guerrilla Warfare 
Why Partisan War Suits Russia 
J. F. A. Le Miere de Corvey (1770-1B32)
On Partisans and Irregular Forces 
Carl von Clausewitz (17B0-1B31)
On the Nature of War 
Henri Jomini (1779-1B69)
Statesmanship in Its Relation to War 
Strategy 
Strategic Combinations 
Epitome of Strategy 
Thomas Bugeaud (17B4-1B49)
On Pacification 
Shaka (c. 17B7-1B2B)
The Zulu Army (from the diary of Henry Francis Fynn) 
Charles Ardant du Picq (1B21-1B70)
Confidence, the Soul of Victory 
William T. Sherman (1B2o-'1B91)
The March to the Sea 
Helmuth von Moltke (1Boo-1B91)
On Strategy 
Friedrich Engels (1B20-1B95)
The Spirit of Resistance 
Erosion by the Waves of Popular Warfare 
War to the Knife 
Friedrich Ratzel (1B44-1904)
The Spatial Growth of States 
The Sea and Sea-going Peoples 
Alfred Thayer Mahan (1B40-1914)
Naval Strategy 
Colmar von der Goltz (1B43-1916)
The Nation in Arms 
Joseph Gallieni (1B49-1916)
The Conquest of Madagascar 
Alfred Schlieffen (1833-1913)
Present-day War 
Charles Callwell (1859-1928)
Counterinsurgency 
Halford J, Mackinder (1861-1947)
The Geographical Pivot of History 
The Round World and the Winning of the Peace 
Julian Corbett (1854-1922)
Strategical Terms and Definitions 
Friedrich von Bernhardi (1849-1930)
On War of Today 
Jean Colin (1864-1917)
The New Conditions of War 
Ferdinand Foch (1851-1929)
Principles of War 
V. I. Lenin (1870-1924)
Advice of an Onlooker 
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
The Armored Train 
T. E. Lawrence (1885-1935)
Guerrilla Warfare 
Giulio Doubet (1869-1930)
Command of the Air
William Mitchell (1879-1936)
The Aeronautical Era 
Hugh Trenchard (1873-1956)
The War Object of an Air Force 
James Connolly (1868-1916)
On Street Fighting 
Mikhail Tukhachevsky (1893-1937)
Counterinsurgency 
Mounting Threats 
J. F. C. Fuller (1878-1966)
Tank Warfare 
Basil Liddell Hart (1895-1970)
The Strategy of Indirect Approach 
Raoul Castex (1878-1968)
The Significance and Limits of Geography 
Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)
The Army of the Future 
Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
"Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat" 
Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)
War and Colonization in the East 
Proclamation to the German People 
Heinz Guderian (1888-1954)
Tank Attack 
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944)
Rules of Desert Warfare 
Alexander de Seversky (1894-1974)
The Challenge to America 
Nicholas Spykman (1893-1943)
Heartland and Rimland 
Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)
The Way of Nonviolence 
Mao Ze-dong (1893-1976)
Strategy in China's Revolutionary War 
12. THE NUCLEAR ERA
Bernard Brodie (1910-1978)
War in the Atomic Age 
Albert Wohlstetter (b. 1912)
The Delicate Balance of Terror 
Thomas C. Schelling (b. 1921)
The Diplomacy of Violence 
Andre Beaufre (1902-1975)
Indirect Strategy in the Nuclear Age 
Henry Kissinger (b. 1923)
Defense Policy and Strategy 
Lucien Poirier (b. 1918)
Elements of a Theory of Crisis 
Pierre M. Gallois (b. 1911)
The Social Dimension of Strategy 
Principal subjects covered