Strategy : The Indirect Approach

Contents: Preface. I. Strategy from fifth century B.C. to twentieth century A.D.: 1. History as practical experience. 2. Greek wars--Epaminondas, Philip and Alexander. 3. Roman wars--Hannibal, Scipio and Caesar. 4. Byzantine wars--Belisarius and Narses. 5. Medieval wars. 6. The seventeenth century--Gustavus, Cromwell, Turenne. 7. The eighteenth century--Marlborough and Frederick. 8. The French revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte. 9. 1854-1914. 10. Conclusions from twenty-five centuries: II. Strategy of the first world war: 11. The plans and their issue in the western theatre, 1914. 12. The north-eastern theatre. 13. The south-eastern or Mediterranean theatre. 14. The strategy of 1918. III. Strategy of the second world war: 15. Hitler's strategy. 16. Hitler's run of victory. 17. Hitler's decline. 18. Hitler's fall. IV. Fundamentals of strategy and grand strategy: 19. The theory of strategy. 20. The concentrated essence of strategy--and tactics. 21. National object and military aim. 22. Grand strategy. Appendices. Index.

This classic book on strategy by one of the foremost military thinkers of the twentieth century, Strategy :The Indirect Approach draws on all of military history, from the Greek-Persian war of the fifth century B.C. to the development of guerrilla warfare in the nuclear age. Liddell Hart provides a perceptive and fascinating examination of wars and their architects. He shows how Hitler almost won, and ultimately lost, World War II, and defines practical principles Adjust your ends to your means, Take a line of operation which offer alternate objectives that are as fundamental in worlds of politics and business as they are in warfare.

This extraordinary work should be essential reading for anyone fascinated by military history and strategy. (jacket)