Synopsis
Many books have been written about strategy, tactics, and great commanders. This is the first book to deal exclusively with the nature of command itself, and to trace its development over two thousand years from ancient Greece to Vietnam.
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About the Author
Martin van Creveld was born in the Netherlands in 1946 and has lived in Israel from 1950. Having studied in Jerusalem and London, since 1971 he has been on the faculty of the History Department, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. A specialist in military history and strategy, he is the author of 20 books, including "The Land of Blood and Honey" and "Defending Israel", and has appeared regularly on CBS, CNN and the BBC.
Review
One of the finest and most perceptive military historians writing in English today...Van Creveld has marshaled more than enough historical evidence--and with great depth and richness--to support his conclusions. (Robert L. Goldich Armed Forces and Society)
One cannot but admire the author's excellent discussion of how modern technology has complicated command and the processes of command; of the interaction of this complication with the political complexities of Vietnam; and of the uses and limitations of systems analysis in general, and in Vietnam in particular. (Trevor Dupuy Washington Times)
I can think of few books on military subjects of greater originality and importance than Martin van Creveld's scholarly and fascinating dissertation on command in war...The subject is examined in depth, supported by a wide historical base, with a perceptive, unprejudiced eye, and the result expressed in clear prose of high literary merit. (Michael Carver Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies Journal)
[Van Creveld] provides us with a vivid historical narrative of the significant steps in the evolution of command systems from the Greek period to the Vietnam war: the birth of the nation-state regular army, the rise of the science of military strategy, the advent of new communication technologies, the development of means for mobilization, and the emergence of computer and space technologies. (Ethics)
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COMMAND In WAR.
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Command in War
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Harvard University Press, 1985
ISBN 10: 0674144406
ISBN 13: 9780674144408
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Command in War
Published by
Harvard University Press, 1985
ISBN 10: 0674144406
ISBN 13: 9780674144408
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
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Condition: Good. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 3942137-6
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Command in War
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Harvard University Press, 1985
ISBN 10: 0674144406
ISBN 13: 9780674144408
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Command in War
Published by
Harvard University Press, 1985
ISBN 10: 0674144406
ISBN 13: 9780674144408
Used
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Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
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Command in War
Published by
Harvard University Press, 1985
ISBN 10: 0674144406
ISBN 13: 9780674144408
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Command in War
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Harvard University Press, 1985
ISBN 10: 0674144406
ISBN 13: 9780674144408
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Command in War
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Harvard University Press December 1985, 1985
ISBN 10: 0674144406
ISBN 13: 9780674144408
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Command in War
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Harvard University Press, Cambridge , Ma., 1985
ISBN 10: 0674144406
ISBN 13: 9780674144408
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Hardcover. Condition: G-vg. First Edition. 339 pages. Black binding with silver lettering on spine. Some underlining and foot notes scattered through the book. Bottom corner tip of back cover bumped. Previous owner's name on top and bottom edge of textblock. Light foxing to edges of textblock. Dust Jacket worn with a couple of small tears to spine ends and corner tips. Jacket covers rubbed. Small tear to Jacket along top edge of front cover. Photos of book on request. Seller Inventory # 011057
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Command in War (Historical & Reference Books (Harvard University Press))
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Harvard University Press, 1999
ISBN 10: 0674144406
ISBN 13: 9780674144408
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Seller: Noble Knight Games, Fitchburg, WI, U.S.A.
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Harvard University Press Historical & Reference Books (Harvard University Press) Command in War (VG+/NM) (dust jacket Fair+) Manufacturer: Harvard University Press Product Line: Historical & Reference Books (Harvard University Press) Type: Hardcover Copyright Date: 1985 Author: Martin Van Creveld Page Count: 340 Please review the condition and any condition notes for the exact condition of this item. All pictures are stock photos. The condition of the item you will receive is VG+/NM - dust jacket Fair+. Our grading system is explained in the terms of sale section of our bookseller page. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Product Description: Many books have been written about strategy, tactics, and great commanders. This is the first book to deal exclusively with the nature of command itself, and to trace its development over two thousand years from ancient Greece to Vietnam. It treats historically the whole variety of problems involved in commanding armies, including staff organization and administration, communications methods and technologies, weaponry, and logistics. And it analyzes the relationship between these problems and military strategy. In vivid descriptions of key battles and campaigns--among others, Napoleon at Jena, Moltke's campaign, the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, and the Americans in Vietnam--Martin van Creveld focuses on the means of command and shows how those means worked in practice. He finds that technological advances such as the railroad, breech-loading rifles, the telegraph and later the radio, tanks, and helicopters all brought commanders not only new tactical possibilities but also new limitations. Although vast changes have occurred in military thinking and technology, the one constant has been an endless search for certainty - certainty about the state and intentions of the enemy's forces; certainty about the manifold factors that together constitute the environment in which war is fought, from the weather and terrain to radioactivity and the presence of chemical warfare agents; and certainty about the state, intentions, and activities of one's own forces. The book concludes that progress in command has usually been achieved less by employing more advanced technologies than by finding ways to transcend the limitations of existing ones. Seller Inventory # 2149404588