Art of War Essay

Abstract

About a 160 years ago my coffin was not-so-gently eased into a grave and shovel after shovel of dirt began to bury me. At that time, I had no idea that the book I had been working on for several years would ever be completed. I certainly did not think it would be completed by my wife, even though I had shared many ideas with her. However, like so many uncertainties in war, Marie took my disorganized papers - some completed, some not, and had the work published. To be quite honest, I never imagined the book would be so widely read, translated into so many languages - or that it would be so badly misinterpreted! You see, I was striving to understand and develop a theoretical perspective of war in its purest sense, the search for a "philosophical truth" if you will, not a prescription for any unique situation in war. Writing about philosophical truths and the grizzly business of war didn't make the best seller lists in my day, but it was a task I believed needed to be done.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1989
Accession Number
ADA438287

Entities

People

  • John M. Himes

Organizations

  • National War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Center Of Gravity
  • Doctrine
  • Education
  • Gravity
  • Information Operations
  • Language
  • Low Intensity Conflict
  • National Security
  • Peacetime
  • Spectra
  • Standards
  • Students
  • Thinking
  • Universities
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.