The Art of War in the Western World

Rating:
Summary: Impressive
Review: Archer Jones attempts to cover over 2000 years on the history of warfare in the West. And what a fantastic effort he gives. In what may be the best general military history ever written he gives a panoramic sweep of the art of warfare through the centuries. From Jone's coverage of Philip of Macedon's phalanxes to Moshe Doyan's IDF this is an impressive work.

Jones covers it in an excellent and clear writing style. He shows that the development of warfare was both evolutionary and revolutionary. Different weapons systems in the offense or defense give rise to counter systems and so on. Weapons change but successful strategies, operations and tactics still maintain essential "philosophies".

Encyclopedic in its breadth, The Art or War in the Western World is enjoyable reading for those with a serious interest in military history.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive
Review: Archer Jones attempts to cover over 2000 years on the history of warfare in the West. And what a fantastic effort he gives. In what may be the best general military history ever written he gives a panoramic sweep of the art of warfare through the centuries. From Jone's coverage of Philip of Macedon's phalanxes to Moshe Doyan's IDF this is an impressive work.

Jones covers it in an excellent and clear writing style. He shows that the development of warfare was both evolutionary and revolutionary. Different weapons systems in the offense or defense give rise to counter systems and so on. Weapons change but successful strategies, operations and tactics still maintain essential "philosophies".

Encyclopedic in its breadth, The Art or War in the Western World is enjoyable reading for those with a serious interest in military history.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive synthesis
Review: Reading this book you will not become an expert on the art of war of precise historical periods. Nor will you become an outstanding theorist on the art of war itself. But you will have a more complete and detailed understanding of what characterizes the successive eras of warfare and how the art of war changed and evolved in the western world. More than that only, you will understand the succession of factors and the dynamics that determined warfare in the western world. This author uses many notions, concepts and analysis created by other writers before him, which gives a very thourough insight on that subject. If only I knew that a few years ago, I would have bought this book as the beginning of my personal study of warfare. I am not a native english speaking person, but yes, even myself, I noticed that his language is sometimes far from literary norms. Since it is a very "technical" book, simplicity in sentence construction is actually a positive point in this work... which remains very clear even though the subject is a pretty complex one.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant summary of the development in tactics and strategy
Review: Using a very simple and easily understandable matrix to show the co-relations between the different weapons systems, Archer Jones has written a chronological summary of the development in strategy and tactics from early history until today. This uncomplicated model, pared with a wide use of known, historical examples, helps the understanding of the subject, and keeps the reader locked to the stress-less during seven hundred pages. I couldn't put away the book until I finished it. Then I waited a week until I read it for the second time. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the subjects of strategy and tactics as well as to people generally interested in history.

Rating:
Summary: The evolution of tactical systems and combat arms...
Review: When hollywood shapes most everyones view of history this outstanding work cuts through the lies, mis-representations and myths to present a lucid, readable and facinating look at how evolution of superior tactical systems and combat arms overthrew the status quo through the ages and caused empires to fall.
From such technical innovations such as the stirrup and compound bow came the irresistable Hun and Mongol archers and the Mounted Knight. Tactical innovations such as the Roman Legion's Cohort became the battalion of today.

A simple example can illustrate the relevancy of the author's work. He traces the rise and fall of Heavy Infantry as the supreme combat arm of the battle field. Infantry in the form of the Phallanx and Legion were displaced by Heavy Cavalry, only to regain dominance as battalions armed with pikes and then bayonet tipped muskets. Armored vehicles, the new Heavy Cavalry once again gained accendancy, but today we see the infantry once more rising to the fore armed with light weight automatic and antitank weapons.

The author helps the layman understand how and why military forces and tactics have changed through 2000 years of history. In so doing he gives us insight into why they look the way they do today, and what forces drive the changes that we see taking place: the push towards lighter and more mobile infantry forces.

Just as technical innovations drove the Phallanx from the battlefield in Roman times and massed regiments from the battlefields in the early 1900's, it is driving change today.
Light air mobile infantry and armor, and special operations forces are being shaped by technology.

This impressive work deserves the widest audience and a place on the bookself of layman and historian alike.