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The Pursuit of Victory: From Napoleon to Saddam Hussein

Brian Bond
en Limba Engleză Paperback – 12 mar 1998
In Western Europe and North America the idea that war can deliberately be used as an 'instrument of policy' has become unfashionable, not least because of the carnage of two World Wars and the Americans' humiliating experience in Vietnam. But wars are still fought. Those who start wars clearly believe they are worthwhile. Why? In this original study, Brian Bond discusses the successes and failures of military and political leaders in their pursuit of victory over the last two centuries.Professor Bond argues that in order to be counted victorious, a leader has to progress beyond military triumph to preserve the political control needed to secure an advantageous and enduring peace settlement. Napoleon was a brilliant general, but failed as a statesman. Bismarck, on the other hand, was a success in skilfully exploiting Moltlike's victories on the battlefield to create a unified Germany. In the First World War, Germany and her allies were defeated but at such great cost that confidence in the idea that war could be controlled, and the pursuit of victory made rational, received a terrible shock. Germany and Japan exploited their military opportunities between 1939 and 1942, but lack of political control and moderation brought them catastrophic defeat. After 1945, nuclear weapons and the increased complexity of international relations blurred the identity of 'victors' and 'losers' and seemed to make the idea of a 'decisive' victory almost unthinkable. But this study warns against the assumption that war as an instrument of policy has now been completely discarded. The Falklands and Gulf conflicts show that aggressors are still prepared to risk war for tangible goals, and that their opponents are quite capable of responding successfully to such challenges.
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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9780198207351
ISBN-10: 0198207352
Pagini: 250
Ilustrații: 16 pp plates, maps
Dimensiuni: 158 x 234 x 16 mm
Greutate: 0.42 kg
Editura: OUP OXFORD
Colecția OUP Oxford
Locul publicării:Oxford, United Kingdom

Recenzii

I have always enjoyed Brian Bond's commonsensical approach to military history, and as a result have learnt a great deal from him. I hope other readers of this journal will benefit similarly.
Professor Bond is a sure-footed guide to the mass of literature on this broad topic which has appeared in the recent past. He moves his story along at a fast clip as the focus shifts from battles to campaigns and from operations to grand strategy ... this book concisely conveys a good deal of the substance of much of the military history of the last decade, along with a commentary which is always well founded and thought-provoking. It is a book to put confidently into the hands of anyone, whether undergraduate or layperson, whom one wishes to persuade of the merits of modern military history.
This is a thought-provoking book. As the various chapters are read, a coherent and persuasive argument emerges ... First, it is an extremely valuable overview of warfare since the mid-eighteenth century, essential to the reader who wishes to gain insights into how conflict has changed during that time. Second, it presents a well researched and resourced theme on the changing nature of 'victory', introducing the reader to complex arguments in a straightforward way. It is those arguments that make us think, and that should always be the aim of a scholarly work. When, in addition, the book is well produced, with good illustrations and clear maps ... it is a work to be recommended to specialist and general readers alike.

Notă biografică

Professor of Military History at King's College, London, Brian Bond is the editor of The First World War and British Military History, (1991, OUP) and a contributor to The Oxford Illustrated History of The British Army, (1994)