Cheap Strategy (Book) (Basil Henry Liddell Hart) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Strategy

Arguably the best book on strategy available
This book was used by the Air Force for training 10 years ago; I don't know whether it still is (it certainly should be). The book is divided into two sections, a survey of military strategy from ancient history through the end of WWII, and then a summation and analysis of the lessons learned (with some discussion of the pros and cons of Clausewitz's On War). While a bit dense, the survey is important as it gives you a much better understanding of Liddell Hart's brilliant indirect approach.

Liddell Hart does not follow the Clausewitz-ian theory that "blood is the price of victory". Rather he views strategy as a way to minimize the need for armed conflict through moral and physical dislocation of ones enemy. He also keeps an eye on grand strategy and the quality of the peace that is to be achieved after a conflict (something that Clausewitz loses track of).

---

As relevant today as in acient times
B. H. Lidell Hart has written a masterpiece in "Strategy". His survey of history and it's successful generals all point to one, irrepressible conclusion; that to win, you must do the unexpected. Hart's main contention is that from acient to modern times, the generals who win, and win consistently, do so not by beating their heads against impregnable positions or trying to bring the enemy's main body to battle by direct action. Instead, he argues that in war, the object is to achieve victory at the least cost--in other words, use economy of force. The "indirect method" which he speaks of has been tested over time, and has proven itself repeatedly. Of the truly decisive campaigns from all of history, 90% of them were won, not by direct assault, but by maneuver, cunning, and by forcing an enemy army to prepare for multiple contingencies. In short, this book is not a handguide to winning a war, and does not present itself as such. What Hart does is show what history's successful captains have done, and leaves the reader to draw his own conclusions, and apply the facts that Hart presents. Overall, a well-written survery of military history that tests many of our preconcieved notions military success.

---

A masterpiece of theory from from a master strategist
An early tank warfare theorist, Liddell Hart championed the cause of mobility in the field and rapid deployment. Largely ignored by the British, his theories were put into practice by the German High Command, which was influenced by Liddell Hart in their plans for Blitzkrieg in WWII. It wasn't until the North African Campaign, when O'Connor rolled backed Graziani's "grey tide" of Italians by rapid movement, capturing thousands of previously victorious Axis troops, that the British took Liddell Hart seriously enough to put his theories to use on the offensive. When the Americans arrived, the Allies were ready to face Rommel, who had also steeped himself in Liddell Hart's theories. The drama of the campaign in central North Africa is, in part, the drama of two sides using different versions of the author's theories. In "Strategy," we have the thoughts of the mature man, one who has seen that the atomic bomb can stop a rapid deployment in its tracks, and who realizes that the West's military superiority over the rest of the world will end with the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons are now available to frequent military rivals India and Pakistan (whose "Islamic Bomb" secrets were recently transmitted to other Muslim nations by one of the bomb's designers), and to North Korea -- which had fought the West to a bloody standstill in Liddell Hart's lifetime. The old theories of rapid deployment which were the hallmark of Liddell Hart's earlier thought are STILL believed in by many military leaders, ready, as so often, to fight the LAST war over again. Liddell Hart's too brief comments about war in the age of nuclear weapons are all the more important to us today, lest we find ourselves caught up in an unwinnable war because of poor strategy. Liddell Hart's conclusions on "industrial bombing" were that it was NOT a useful means of warfare. We may suggest, based upon very recent military experience, that today's aerial campaign of "awe and terror" rapidly lead's to tommorrow's "guerrila war" on the ground, down and dirty, and very, very bloody.

Liddell Hart's chapter on "Guerilla War" helps to illustrate the bloody catastrophes of the Viet Nam era and the current insurgency in Iraq.

"Strategy" is a bit out-of-date, but a wise reader can discern where Liddell Hart's theories WOULD have led had he lived a few years longer. I rate "Stragey" 5 stars, up from my earlier rating of 4 stars, which I gave it before the Iraq "insurgency" showed that Basil Liddell Hart knew his stuff: the war is unfolding as "Strategy" suggests that it would. This book is A MUST READ for anyone interested in strategy, whether for playing war games or waging a real war.