The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521566274 ISBN 13: 9780521566278

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Moving beyond the limited focus of the individual strategic theorist or the great military leader, The Making of Strategy concentrates instead on the processes by which rulers and states have formed strategy. Seventeen case studies--from the fifth century B.C. to the present--analyze through a common framework how strategists have sought to implement a coherent course of action against their adversaries. This fascinating book considers the impact of such complexities as the geographic, political, economic and technical forces that have driven the transformation of strategy since the beginning of civilization and seem likely to alter the making of strategy in the future.

About this title

Book Description

Seventeen case studies--from the fifth century B.C. to the present--analyze through a common framework how strategists have sought to implement a coherent course of action against their adversaries. They concentrate on the processes by which rulers and states have formed strategy.

Review

"This book traces the processes that resulted in military strategies in 17 cases, ranging from ancient Greece and Rome to American nuclear strategy....Each essay is self-contained, and academics searching for brief but expert analyses of strategic case studies for teaching purposes will welcome this book." Foreign Affairs

"...the essays, including those on Israel and the United States in the nuclear age, are presented with remarkable verve and freshness." Brian Bond, Times Literary Supplement

"The essays by some of the finest strategic analysts in the world, both historians and historically minded political scientists, are of a uniformly high quality. The Making of Strategy is an exceptional work. Anyone who wishes to understand the essence of strategy-making as a process, and the factors that influence strategy-making will profit by reading these essays." Mackubin T. Owens, Strategic Review

"One of the advantages of the book is its essays on lesser-known periods for some powers....Military historians and political scientists can benefit from this work, as can students from the upper-division undergraduate level onward." R. Higham, Choice

"The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War offers an important collection of essays which examines the process of strategic decision-making from the Peloponnesian Wars to the nuclear age." The International History Review

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521566274
• ISBN 13: 9780521566278
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 704
• Editor: Murray Williamson, Bernstein Alvin, Knox MacGregor