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An Annotated Guide to Tactics - Carl von Clausewitz’s Theory of the Combat
The philosophy on which the Marine Corps’ seminal warfighting doctrine is based rests on a tradition of professional military scholarship that reaches back to Carl von Clausewitz’s treatise On War. Clausewitz’s lesser-known and often-misunderstood Guide to Tactics, republished here for the first time as a standalone English text with critical annotations, serves as the foundation of the Marine Corps’ warfighting philosophy and provides a guide to thinking about the nature of tactics and combat for the modern warfighter.
- GenresMilitary Fiction
264 pages, ebook
Published January 1, 2021
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June 12, 2022
Everyone with any serious interest in militay matters has heard of Clausewitz. Some have even read his seminal work, On War. But most will not even be aware of his earlier work, Guide to Tactics. Long out of print and excluded from all recent editions of the English translation, the work has been severely neglected. Olivia Garard is therefore to be hugely congratulated for seeking to bring this 'lost' book back into view.
The book is essentially a re-publication of Maude's 1908 edition of the 1873 translation by Colonel James Graham. Although Garard's book is presented as being an 'annotated' edition, there are in fact very few annotations, and most of these pick up the cross-references within the work, so that the reader is not required to flip to and fro. In essence, however, this is pretty much a reprint of Graham's text. No harm in that. The supplementary material, providing an introduction, guide to further reading, and index, are all of value.
The text itself is a challenging read. Although presented as some 600 short statements (mostly of a sentence or two), there is (as always with Clausewitz) much depth and insight in what is written. Careful reading brings out many important points. Some were developed further in On War. Some complement what was written there. Others were amended in Clausewitz's later thinking. But well worth reading and reflecting.
In short, a fascinating work, which is deservedly brought back into view.
The book is essentially a re-publication of Maude's 1908 edition of the 1873 translation by Colonel James Graham. Although Garard's book is presented as being an 'annotated' edition, there are in fact very few annotations, and most of these pick up the cross-references within the work, so that the reader is not required to flip to and fro. In essence, however, this is pretty much a reprint of Graham's text. No harm in that. The supplementary material, providing an introduction, guide to further reading, and index, are all of value.
The text itself is a challenging read. Although presented as some 600 short statements (mostly of a sentence or two), there is (as always with Clausewitz) much depth and insight in what is written. Careful reading brings out many important points. Some were developed further in On War. Some complement what was written there. Others were amended in Clausewitz's later thinking. But well worth reading and reflecting.
In short, a fascinating work, which is deservedly brought back into view.
Displaying 1 of 1 review