Carl Von Clausewitz'S On War (Paperback Edition): A Biography

Dissapointing book. The book is not Clauswitz von krieg but a commentary on that book and boring to read

I would not suggest this book for first timers or those who are trying to get a glimpse of On War

very good

Hew Strachan has written an extraordinarily insightful book on Clausewitz and his theory/philosophy of war. The book is important for two reasons: (1) it provides a useful corrective to the current over-indulgence with the Howard-Paret interpretation of Clausewitz's major English-translated book, "On War;" and (2) it provides additional arguments that support the relevance of Clausewitz's thoughts to current times and events. Of course, Clausewitz should be relevant since he was digging into the psychology of war as much as its practice. Human psychological evolution changes much more slowly than the technologies of war; thus if Clausewitz got the psychology right, his ideas should endure. According to Strachan, they do. However, Strachan's most salient insight is this: that Clausewitz never intended to predict or forecast war in the future. He only tried to explain it in the present. That Clausewitz's explanations remain fresh is testament to the depth of his understanding of the dark side of the human psyche.