Written after 1513's "The Prince," Niccolo Machiavelli's war treatise, "The Art of War", is a dazzling array of war tactics and strategies based on the military strength of the Romans. Machiavelli wrote "The Art of War" as a dialogue between a group of young men in the Florentine republic. The main narrator, Lord Fabrizio Colonna, is the voice of knowledge and wisdom. The others ask questions about military tactics, and Fabrizio gives them advice...

A Brief Guide to Maritime Strategy is a deliberately compact introductory work aimed at junior seafarers, those who make decisions affecting the sea services, and those who educate seafarers and decision-makers. It introduces readers to the main theoretical ideas that shape how statesmen and commanders make and execute maritime strategy in times of peace and war. Following in the spirit of Bernard Brodie's Layman's Guide to Naval Strategy, a World...

Profiles of 16 decisive struggles from ancient and modern times. Gripping accounts range from Alexander the Great's overthrow of the Persian empire in the 4th century BC to World War II's Battle of Midway. Pratt depicts the circumstances leading up to the decisive clashes, the personalities involved, and the historically important aftermath. 27 maps.

Thirty-five years ago, Sir John Hackett published The Third World War, which speculated how WW3 might start in the mid-eighties and how it would be fought. His scenario started with the death of Marshall Tito in Yugoslavia, followed by the break-up of that country and Russian and Warsaw Pact tanks rolling through the Fulda Gap from East Germany into West Germany. Since it is now fashionable to call WW3 either the Cold War or the war against Islamic...

In attempting to analyze the role of luck in war, a rather narrow definition of luck is necessary. The conventional dictionary definitions of luck are a force that brings good fortune or adversity and the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual. Those definitions are so broad that they would appear to cover many, perhaps most, events in war. There is in literature an old expression, deus ex machina, a translation into Latin...

Bombardeos, asesinatos, secuestros, grandes desembarcos, paracaidistas tras las líneas enemigas, la imaginación a la hora de decantar la guerra hacia un lado u otro no tuvo límites durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y en la mayor parte de los casos el asunto se dilucidó entre las mentes más preclaras o simplemente por el curso de los acontecimientos. Algunas, como la Operación Amerika, se desestimaron por cuestiones tecnológicas, otras por...

The classic account of how British intelligence penetrated and practically operated Nazi Germany's spy network within the British Isles With great imagination, care, and precise coordination, the British were able to identify Nazi agents, induce many to defect, and supply completely false information to Germany about bombings, battles, and even the D-Day invasion. Told by the man who masterminded the entire, unbelievable four-and-a-half-year scheme,...

This book describes and analyses in hitherto unexplored ways the unique relationship of the United States Navy and the Royal Navy as exemplars of the US-UK "Special Relationship" in the context of strategy, operations, technology, and intelligence. A continuous thread of 55 years of maritime strategic planning and execution is examined within the challenges and changes of a dynamic period in which the shared national self-interests and inherent values...

What makes the Civil War so fascinating is that it presents an endless number of "what if" scenarios-moments when the outcome of the war (and therefore world history) hinged on a single small mistake or omission. In this book, Civil War historian Edward Bonekemper highlights the ten biggest Civil War blunders, focusing in on intimate moments of military indecision and inaction involving great generals like Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, and William...

The Hostage Rescue Manual is a comprehensive, illustrated source on the dynamic operations which have saved hundreds of lives in hostage situations around the world. It is based on strategies that have proved successful in numerous incidents, including the landmark SAS rescue at Prince's Gate, London, and is compiled by an author with intimate and practical knowledge of the field.