The Essence Of War

The Essence Of War
Author: Ralph D. Sawyer
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2009-04-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786730064

From antiquity, the history of China has been marked by invading tribes, warring states, and popular uprisings. This heritage of conflict produced a body of martial literature exploring the fundamental principles of warfare and their methods of employment. Fully aware of the tragic consequences of battle, the authors of these texts emphasized that bloodshed and war should be avoided whenever possible. But, they argued, this is possible only when the principles of leadership and strategy have been mastered and the dynamics of conflict thoroughly analyzed. Over the centuries, these texts have been studied throughout Asia, not only by generals on the battlefield but by leaders of all kinds concerned with the management of human conflict in all its forms.The Essence of War presents eight of these classics (written from 500 B.C.E. to 700 C.E.), including Sun-tzu's Art of War and Sun Pin's Military Methods. The book introduces the core principles of Chinese military science, grouping selected passages and key quotations into five thematic sections encompassing forty-one topical chapters: Fundamentals, Tao of Warfare, Tao of Command, Tactical Essentials, and Tactical Specifics. Translator Ralph D. Sawyer provides here a concise introduction to Chinese military thought and influential materials not only of traditional import, but also for contemporary study and enduring value in both business and military circles throughout the world.

The Essence Of Chaos

The Essence Of Chaos
Author: Flavio Lorenzelli
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2003-09-02
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0203214587

The study of chaotic systems has become a major scientific pursuit in recent years, shedding light on the apparently random behaviour observed in fields as diverse as climatology and mechanics. InThe Essence of Chaos Edward Lorenz, one of the founding fathers of Chaos and the originator of its seminal concept of the Butterfly Effect, presents his own landscape of our current understanding of the field. Lorenz presents everyday examples of chaotic behaviour, such as the toss of a coin, the pinball's path, the fall of a leaf, and explains in elementary mathematical strms how their essentially chaotic nature can be understood. His principal example involved the construction of a model of a board sliding down a ski slope. Through this model Lorenz illustrates chaotic phenomena and the related concepts of bifurcation and strange attractors. He also provides the context in which chaos can be related to the similarly emergent fields of nonlinearity, complexity and fractals. As an early pioneer of chaos, Lorenz also provides his own story of the human endeavour in developing this new field. He describes his initial encounters with chaos through his study of climate and introduces many of the personalities who contributed early breakthroughs. His seminal paper, "Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wing in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?" is published for the first time.

Men at War

Men at War
Author: Christopher Coker
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2014
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199382972

This is the story of the fictional warriors, heroes, villains, survivors and victims whose exploits thrill and appall us, capturing the existential appeal to men of war -- Ranges through 3,000 years of history, through epic poems, the modern novel and film scripts -- Case studies include Apocalypse Now, All Quiet on the Western Front, Thin Red Line, Master and Commander, and Dr. Strangelove

War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning

War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
Author: Chris Hedges
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2014-04-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1610395107

General George S. Patton famously said, "Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance. God, I do love it so!" Though Patton was a notoriously single-minded general, it is nonetheless a sad fact that war gives meaning to many lives, a fact with which we have become familiar now that America is once again engaged in a military conflict. War is an enticing elixir. It gives us purpose, resolve, a cause. It allows us to be noble. Chris Hedges of The New York Times has seen war up close -- in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central America -- and he has been troubled by what he has seen: friends, enemies, colleagues, and strangers intoxicated and even addicted to war's heady brew. In War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, he tackles the ugly truths about humanity's love affair with war, offering a sophisticated, nuanced, intelligent meditation on the subject that is also gritty, powerful, and unforgettable.

War: How Conflict Shaped Us

War: How Conflict Shaped Us
Author: Margaret MacMillan
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2020-10-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1984856146

Is peace an aberration? The New York Times bestselling author of Paris 1919 offers a provocative view of war as an essential component of humanity. NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW “Margaret MacMillan has produced another seminal work. . . . She is right that we must, more than ever, think about war. And she has shown us how in this brilliant, elegantly written book.”—H.R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty and Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World The instinct to fight may be innate in human nature, but war—organized violence—comes with organized society. War has shaped humanity’s history, its social and political institutions, its values and ideas. Our very language, our public spaces, our private memories, and some of our greatest cultural treasures reflect the glory and the misery of war. War is an uncomfortable and challenging subject not least because it brings out both the vilest and the noblest aspects of humanity. Margaret MacMillan looks at the ways in which war has influenced human society and how, in turn, changes in political organization, technology, or ideologies have affected how and why we fight. War: How Conflict Shaped Us explores such much-debated and controversial questions as: When did war first start? Does human nature doom us to fight one another? Why has war been described as the most organized of all human activities? Why are warriors almost always men? Is war ever within our control? Drawing on lessons from wars throughout the past, from classical history to the present day, MacMillan reveals the many faces of war—the way it has determined our past, our future, our views of the world, and our very conception of ourselves.

The Art of War

The Art of War
Author: Thomas Cleary
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2024-07-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1645472833

The most prestigious and influential book on strategy and dealing with conflict, beautifully translated for clear, accessible reading—including commentaries by other ancient Chinese philosophers and strategists. From esteemed translator Thomas Cleary and including commentary from philosophers such as Cao Cao, Du Mu, and Du You, this timeless Chinese classic captures the essence of military strategy used in ancient East Asia, with lessons on how to handle conflict confidently, efficiently, and successfully. As Sun Tzu teaches, aggression and response in kind can lead only to destruction—we must learn to work with conflict in a more profound and effective way. Crucial to this strategic vision is knowledge—especially self-knowledge—and a view of the whole that seeks to bring the conflicting ideas around to a larger perspective. The techniques and instructions discussed in The Art of War apply to competition and conflict on every level, from the interpersonal to the international. A study of the anatomy of forces in conflict, it has been discovered by modern businesspeople who understand the principles it contains are as useful for understanding the interactions of modern corporations as they are for understanding the tactics of ancient Chinese armies. Its aim is invincibility, victory without battle, and unassailable strength through an understanding of the physics, politics, and psychology of conflict. Thomas Cleary’s translation is a breakthrough achievement that has been a gold standard among translations for three decades, offering the complete text in eminently readable prose with short commentaries by other ancient Chinese strategists and philosophers interwoven throughout. Cleary’s work allows innumerable insights to be discovered through this translation millennia after this oral teaching was first set down.

Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare

Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare
Author: Mark McNeilly
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2003
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780195161083

A biography of Hoagy Carmichael, composer of classic American songs such as ""Georgia on My Mind"", ""Rockin' Chair"", ""Skylark"", ""Lazybones"", and ""Star Dust"". The book follows Carmichael from his roaring-20s Indiana youth to Hollywood legend.

The New Rules of War

The New Rules of War
Author: Sean McFate
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2019-01-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 0062843605

"Stunning. Sean McFate is a new Sun Tzu." -Admiral James Stavridis (retired), former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO An Economist Book of the Year 2019 Some of the principles of warfare are ancient, others are new, but all described in The New Rules of War will permanently shape war now and in the future. By following them Sean McFate argues, we can prevail. But if we do not, terrorists, rogue states, and others who do not fight conventionally will succeed—and rule the world. The New Rules of War is an urgent, fascinating exploration of war—past, present and future—and what we must do if we want to win today from an 82nd Airborne veteran, former private military contractor, and professor of war studies at the National Defense University. War is timeless. Some things change—weapons, tactics, technology, leadership, objectives—but our desire to go into battle does not. We are living in the age of Durable Disorder—a period of unrest created by numerous factors: China’s rise, Russia’s resurgence, America’s retreat, global terrorism, international criminal empires, climate change, dwindling natural resources, and bloody civil wars. Sean McFate has been on the front lines of deep state conflicts and has studied and taught the history and practice of war. He’s seen firsthand the horrors of battle and understands the depth and complexity of the current global military situation. This devastating turmoil has given rise to difficult questions. What is the future of war? How can we survive? If Americans are drawn into major armed conflict, can we win? McFate calls upon the legends of military study Carl von Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, and others, as well as his own experience, and carefully constructs the new rules for the future of military engagement, the ways we can fight and win in an age of entropy: one where corporations, mercenaries, and rogue states have more power and ‘nation states’ have less. With examples from the Roman conquest, World War II, Vietnam, Afghanistan and others, he tackles the differences between conventional and future war, the danger in believing that technology will save us, the genuine leverage of psychological and ‘shadow’ warfare, and much more. McFate’s new rules distill the essence of war today, describing what it is in the real world, not what we believe or wish it to be.

Hybrid warfare The essence, structure and course of the conflict

Hybrid warfare The essence, structure and course of the conflict
Author: Slawomir Turkowski
Publisher: e-bookowo
Total Pages: 73
Release: 2021-02-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 8393585597

Slawomir Turkowski - lawyer, graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University in Bialystok, a specialist in the field of commercial companies' law, public procurement law and energy law, advisor in energy sector companies, energy market expert. Military theoretician, military instructor, graduate of the Reserve School of the Military Academy of Rocket and Artillery in Toruń. General Joseph Bem, an officer of the Polish Army. The book analyzes the phenomenon of hybrid wars as third-generation conflicts. The publication discusses the genesis of conflicts, the course as well as aspects related to combating these phenomena and indicates methods of prevention. The author intends to present the issues of hybrid warfare in a comprehensive manner and at the same time practical. This publication is the result of research and the author's practices in the area of asymmetric conflicts.