On War
A Foundational Theory of Strategy, Armed Conflict, Political Purpose, and the Fog, Friction, and Uncertainty of WarBy Carl von Clausewitz
Length32h 14m
About this audiobook
Carl von Clausewitz's *On War* is a sustained inquiry into the nature, purposes, and conduct of armed conflict. Written as a theoretical rather than a prescriptive treatise, it examines war as an instrument of policy, distinguishing between abstract or "absolute" war and the historically conditioned wars that states actually fight. Its central concepts—friction, uncertainty, the fog of war, the moral forces of combat, and the remarkable "trinity" of violence, chance, and political reason—remain foundational to strategic thought. Clausewitz's dialectical, aphoristic prose, enriched by historical examples from the Napoleonic era, places the work within the nineteenth-century tradition of military history while anticipating modern political and social theory. Published posthumously from an unfinished manuscript, the book's apparent tensions and revisions are part of its intellectual power. A Prussian officer and reform-minded military thinker, Clausewitz formed his ideas through personal experience in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, including Prussia's defeat by Napoleon and the subsequent wars of liberation. His service, teaching, and association with reformers such as Gerhard von Scharnhorst encouraged him to move beyond rigid eighteenth-century doctrines. He wrote against simplistic formulas, seeking instead to explain how politics, chance, institutions, morale, and command interact in real campaigns. *On War* is indispensable for readers of military history, international relations, political philosophy, and strategic studies. Although demanding and unfinished, it rewards careful reading by challenging every attempt to reduce war to technique alone. It is recommended both as a classic of Western thought and as a searching guide to the enduring relationship between political purpose and organized violence.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.2 (19.4K)
Includes Goodreads, Amazon, LibraryThing, StoryGraph
GenrePolitics and Government
Length32 hrs 14 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateFeb 4, 2021
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Strategy of Warfare – Boxed Set (Annotated)
2INTRODUCTION
3PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
4THE INTRODUCTION OF THE AUTHOR
5BRIEF MEMOIR OF GENERAL CLAUSEWITZ (BY TRANSLATOR)
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6BOOK I. ON THE NATURE OF WAR
7CHAPTER I. What is War?
8CHAPTER II. Ends and Means in War
9CHAPTER III. The Genius for War
10CHAPTER IV. Of Danger in War
11CHAPTER V. Of Bodily Exertion in War
12CHAPTER VI. Information in War
13CHAPTER VII. Friction in War
14CHAPTER VIII. Concluding Remarks, Book I
15BOOK II. ON THE THEORY OF WAR
16CHAPTER I. Branches of the Art of War
17CHAPTER II. On the Theory of War
18CHAPTER III. Art or Science of War
19CHAPTER IV. Methodicism
20CHAPTER V. Criticism
21CHAPTER VI. On Examples
22BOOK III. OF STRATEGY IN GENERAL
23CHAPTER I. Strategy
24CHAPTER II. Elements of Strategy
25CHAPTER III. Moral Forces
26CHAPTER IV. The Chief Moral Powers
27CHAPTER V. Military Virtue of an Army
28CHAPTER VI. Boldness
29CHAPTER VII. Perseverance
30CHAPTER VIII. Superiority of Numbers
31CHAPTER IX. The Surprise
32CHAPTER X. Stratagem
33CHAPTER XI. Assembly of Forces in Space
34CHAPTER XII. Assembly of Forces in Time
35CHAPTER XIII. Strategic Reserve
36CHAPTER XIV. Economy of Forces
37CHAPTER XV. Geometrical Element
38CHAPTER XVI. On the Suspension of the Act in War
39CHAPTER XVII. On the Character of Modern War
40CHAPTER XVIII. Tension and Rest
41BOOK IV THE COMBAT
42CHAPTER I. Introductory
43CHAPTER II. Character of a Modern Battle
44CHAPTER III. The Combat in General
45CHAPTER IV. The Combat in General (continuation)
46CHAPTER V. On the Signification of the Combat
47CHAPTER VI. Duration of Combat
48CHAPTER VII. Decision of the Combat
49CHAPTER VIII. Mutual Understanding as to a Battle
50CHAPTER IX. The Battle 39
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