OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS on War

Product was delivered in excellent condition, thanks to amazon packing.This book is classic and reader may interprete it accronding to their subjective experiences of life.

The book delivers exactly what you would expect.

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"On War" is a very difficult book to review for various reasons, the main reasons are (1) it is philosophical, (2) it is outdated in comparison to modern day warfare and warfare waged in Clausewitz's era, (3) and most importantly... it is unfinished. It is going to be very difficult to give this book a complete review as it is a book of great magnitude, and thus I will illustrate the main ideas which Clausewitz tried to get across.Before all else, this is isn't like any other book written about war, it is not filled with aphorisms and symbolisms like Sun Tzu's Art of War (which is also an impressive book) and it isn't a wholly practical book that deals with maxims and formations, although it does get into that. What separates this book from the rest is its detailed explanation into the nature of war and what it is, in short, this book isn't for everyone as it touches philosophy.Clausewitz was familiar with Immanuel Kant, and was perhaps even inspired by him, On War for example deals with the nature of war, in other words "the thing in itself". Clausewitz described war as two kinds (1) "Ideal War or Total War", in it's purest form it is unchecked violence and self serving, in other words war for the sake of war, (2) "limited war", which is the pursuit of an objective and once accomplished the war must cease. In Clausewitz's view the idea of total war was an impossibility, although in the modern world that impossibility has become a reality in the form of Nuclear war.Clausewitz ventured deep into the nature of War as he spent a great amount of time, 13 years, writing about war. Unfortunately, his book remains unfinished and we are left with all that he had written after he passed away, had he lived he may have perhaps discovered the secret mystery of war which has many of us pondering until now or he may have never discovered it at all. What Clausewitz's did uncover is of great value and appreciated by many sovereign nations, for example "war is a continuation of policy by other means" is a maxim adopted by many sovereign nations, this along with what Clausewitz idealized war to be has left an impression for many that came after him, especially student of war. Anyone who will venture into topic of war and desires to write a book as great as this will find it hard to come with new content without mentioning Clausewitz or at least borrowing some of his ideas. For anyone truly interested in understanding what war perhaps is will get a better idea of it than any other work written about war.

Read the first book of and you may have some of the interesting ideas written down. The rest of the book is ok, but not as important to read as the 1st book. The concepts that war is tied so close to everything politcal, used as another negotiating technique opened my eyes. If you keep going and read the whole book you will also find some interesting nuggets inside. Clausewitz is a very interesting thinker and I think this Everyman's edition is well made. In fact after some looking, I am getting this book published by Everyman's because it seems so much better than other versions of On War. One thing about this book that is really amazing is that it can also show you things about your own life. I doubt Clauswitz would think of his book in such a way, but his ideas are really clear and helpful even to a non military mind.