The Practice of Strategy: From Alexander the Great to the Present

456 Pages·2012·2.41 MB·English

by  John Andreas Olsen

Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Brief Summary
Strategy Applied
Notes
1 The Campaigns of Alexander the Great
Introduction
Alexander's Inheritance: Political and Military Context
Greece and the Balkans
Destroying Persia's Centres of Gravity
Establishing the Eastern Frontier
Conclusion
Notes
2 The Roman Republic: From Monarchy to Julius Caesar
Introduction: The Sources and their Limitations
The Political and Military Institutions of the Republic
Wars, Imperialism, and Foreign Policy
Roman Strategy during the Republic
Conclusion
Notes
3 The Byzantine Empire: From Attila to the 4th Crusade
Introduction
The Emergence of the New Strategy
The Tactical Revolution
Intelligence and Covert Action
Fortress Constantinople
Justinian's Reversal Reversed: Victory and Plague
Conclusion: Byzantine Strategy
Notes
4 The Hundred Years War, 1337–1453
Introduction
The Nature of Strategy
The First Phase, 1337–60
The Second Phase, 1360–96
The Third Phase, 1415–53
Conclusions
Notes
5 The Ottomans: From Frontier Principality to Empire
Introduction
Strategy and Strategic Culture
From Frontier Principality to Empire, c.1300–1453
Empire: Mid-Fifteenth to Late Seventeenth Centuries
Limits to Ottoman Strategy and Military Power
Conclusion
Notes
6 The Thirty Years War, 1618–48
Introduction
The Politics of the Holy Roman Empire
The Habsburgs and Europe
The Crisis of 1618–19
Resisting the Pax Austriaca, 1621–9
Strategic Overstretch, 1629–34
Limited Goals, Protracted Conflict, 1635–48
The War of the Generals?
Strategy and the Military Enterpriser
Conclusion
Notes
7 Britain and the ‘Long’ Eighteenth Century, 1688–1815
Introduction
The Nature of Strategy
The Seven Years War
The American War of Independence
The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Conclusions
Notes
8 Britain and the Napoleonic Wars
Introduction
Clausewitz and Jomini
Economic Warfare
The Continental System
The Long Road to Coalition
Endgame
Conclusion
Notes
9 The American Civil War
Introduction
Grand Strategy and the Opening of the Civil War
Grand Strategy and Military Strategy, 1861–2
1863: The Turning Point in the War
The Decisive Year
Grand Strategy and the Hard War
Conclusion
Notes
10 The First and Second World Wars
Introduction
Similarities
The Strategies of the Individual Belligerents
Differences
Conclusions
Notes
11 The Nuclear Age and the Cold War
Introduction
The Contexts of Strategy
History as Usual
Conclusions: Strategy in the Cold War
Notes
12 Modern Irregular Warfare: Afghanistan and Iraq
Introduction
Afghanistan
Iraq
Conclusion
Notes
Conclusion
Introduction
Strategy: An Enduring Function
Why Theory?
The General Theory of Strategy in Twenty-One Dicta12
Strategic Theory and Political Purpose
The Theory to Practice Strategy
Notes
Notes on Contributors
Selected Bibliography
Index

The Practice of Strategy:
From Alexander the Great to the
Present
John Andreas Olsen
Colin S. Gray
(p.iv)

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP
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Contents
Title Pages
Preface
Introduction
John Andreas Olsen
Part I Ancient and Mediaeval
Chapter 1 The Campaigns of Alexander the Great
David J. Lonsdale
Chapter 2 The Roman Republic: From Monarchy to Julius Caesar
Israel Shatzman
Chapter 3 The Byzantine Empire: From Attila to the 4th Crusade
Edward N. Luttwak
Chapter 4 The Hundred Years War, 1337–1453
Anne Curry
Part II Mediaeval and Modern
Chapter 5 The Ottomans: From Frontier Principality to Empire
Gábor Ágoston
Chapter 6 The Thirty Years War, 1618–48
David Parrott
Chapter 7 Britain and the ‘Long’ Eighteenth Century, 1688–1815
Jeremy Black
Chapter 8 Britain and the Napoleonic Wars
Charles Esdaile