The Art of War in World History

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).

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