THE ART OF WAR IN WESTERN WORLD PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Archer Jones | 768 pages | 19 Dec 2000 | University of Illinois Press | 9780252069666 | English | Baltimore, United States The Art of War in the Western World by Archer Jones Historians say that the French emperor Napoleon was the first Western leader to follow its teachings. It was finally translated into English in The Art of War presents the basic principles of warfare and gives military leaders advice on when and how to fight. Its 13 chapters offer specific battle strategies—for example, one tells commanders how to move armies through inhospitable terrain, while another explains how to use and respond to different types of weapons—but they also give more general advice about conflicts and their resolution. Ever since The Art of War was published, military leaders have been following its advice. Meanwhile, executives and lawyers use the teachings of The Art of War to get the upper hand in negotiations and to win trials. Business-school professors assign the book to their students and sports coaches use it to win games. It has even been the subject of a self-help dating guide. Plainly, this 2,year-old book still resonates with a 21st- century audience. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Known as the Renaissance, the period immediately following the Middle Ages in Europe saw a great revival of interest in the classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome. Against a backdrop of political stability and growing prosperity, the development of new Of Sun Wu himself Tzu is an honorific particle, meaning "master" , little is known beyond his birth in the state of Ch'i and service to King The Ming Dynasty ruled China from to A. Known for its trade expansion to the outside world that established cultural ties with the West, the Ming Dynasty is also remembered for its drama, literature and world-renowned Amid the harsh repression of slavery, Americans of African descent, and particularly black women, managed—sometimes at their own peril—to preserve the culture of their ancestry and articulate both their struggles and hopes in their own words and images. A growing number of black Art Nouveau was an art and design movement that grew out of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th Century. Art Nouveau highlighted curvaceous lines, often inspired by plants and flowers, as well as geometric patterns. Art Deco was a sprawling design sensibility that The Han Dynasty ruled China from B. Though tainted by deadly dramas within the royal court, it is also known for its promotion of Confucianism as the state religion and opening the Silk Road trade route to Europe, In around B. Most of all, Pericles paid artisans to build temples The Tang Dynasty is considered a golden age of Chinese arts and culture. Thus, the reader is presented by something of a paradox - a book making a claim to providing the definition of western warfare is in essence saying that what actually took place throughout all these years was the 'wrong' approach. In comparison with my main objections against the fundamental ideas and conclusions provided by this book, the final problem I'll address in this review may very well be a minor issue. I can't however leave it unmentioned, as it annoyed me beyond all reason throughout this book. A major component of professor Jones analysis consists of a selection of battles and campaigns that in his opinion illustrate his points. Many of these examples come from classical period. I am almost petrified to make this grave statement regarding such an esteemed historian as Archer Jones, but I can't help but question his knowledge about military history of that period. On several occasions I was simply flabbergasted by what I read. For example, the Spartan martial capability is reduced by the author to a 'one trick pony'-level. According to the professor, they used some sort of right-angled approach toward enemy line in an attempt to exploit the natural drift of phalanx formation to the right. Let's disregard the fact that there are no primary sources that describe such a maneuver - true, Spartans always placed themselves on the right flank, but only because it was a place of honor. Let's also discount the fact that the natural drift of phalanx formation to the right was well known by every every general in Greek city-states. It is however impossible to dismiss the purely logical argument that says that if Spartha relied on a single 'trick', it would hardly achieve the status it held for hundreds of years. Such argument is especially weak, if one also remembers that flanks of hoplite armies were habitually covered by swarms of peltasts, which according to the author himself, were superior to heavy hoplites! The author tells us that Theban victory at Leuctra was due to Epaminondas finally realizing how to counter Spartan 'one trick pony'-move and using Theban Sacred band to outflank the supposed flankers. He fails however to mention the massive phalanx formation that opposed the Spartans on the right flank in that battle as well as the REAL innovation introduced by Epaminondas - the refused flank maneuver. Another example of a very odd interpretation of available primary sources in a presentation of a battle can be found in author's analysis of Zama. Here, professor Jones claims that Hannibal intended to outflank the army of Scipio in a copy of maneuver he used at Cannae. How one can arrive to that conclusion is simply beyond my understanding. Not only was Hannibal inferior in cavalry strength due to defection of Masinissa, but his dispositions of infantry suggest no such intentions. If anything, Hannibal's deployment is shockingly unconventional when compared with his other battles and indicates in every respect that he intended to fight a battle of attrition. Leuctra and Zama are but two examples of battles and campaigns that in this book are in my opinion presented in very strange manner. Things are getting better as the book progresses toward medieval period and beyond, but classical examples are used repeatedly throughout the book to prove various points. Since those examples are in my opinion 'malformed' to be begin with, any conclusions based on them sounded hollow to me. Because of the reasons mentioned above, but also for other reasons I won't go into, I found this book a very difficult and frustrating read. While parts of the book are indeed very informative and the analysis provided by the author is at times indeed quite brilliant, the fundamental conclusions to which the he arrives simply don't sound true to me. Having finished it, I had more questions and objections than answers. Mostly however, I felt relieved that I arrived to the end of the book with which I didn't agree and which turned out to be a chore rather than a pleasure to read. Apr 18, Mark rated it really liked it. I was looking for a book that gave a broad view of military tactics across history, and this book delivered. The book's point of view is long ancient Greeks up to Israeli war and broad battle tactics, troop movement, costs, logistics, technology. There are also lots of little fascinating tidbits to be found along the way that I never knew. For example, originally bayonets were mounted in the rifle barrel and it took about a decade before they moved to the outside of the barrel so the so I was looking for a book that gave a broad view of military tactics across history, and this book delivered. For example, originally bayonets were mounted in the rifle barrel and it took about a decade before they moved to the outside of the barrel so the soldiers could keep shooting. The main problem I had was that the structure is repetitive. Jones is trying to write about both tactics and history and often organizes chapters as: a preview of an era's tactics, a history of the era's battles with tactics, a review of the era's history with tactics, and then a summary of the era's tactics. I tried to do a lot of intelligent skimming, but could never be sure when some new interesting fact or insight might crop up in the middle of an otherwise repetitive section. Dec 20, Joseph rated it really liked it Shelves: non-fiction. Wow that book was Long! I read this book a couple times in high school and it changed my life. I was always fascinated with history, in particular military history, and this book gave me my basis for my 4 year obsession with history during high school. More specific books were difficult for me to understand because they assumed I had the basis this book provided. If you want an introduction to military history this book cannot be beat. Oct 23, Kyle rated it liked it. This is a great basic view of western warfare, particularly strong through the classical and medievil periods. Jones does seek, however, to try to squeeze every military time period into his four-part box schematic, which sometimes works, aometimes doesn't, especially as the later modern period is approached. Still, good for some one stop shopping for a basic survey. Aug 05, Jeremy Hatfield rated it it was ok. Informative, pretty well-researched, but exceedingly dry. Mar 05, Chris rated it liked it. More military, less politically-focused history.