Is his book decent or is he being over-hyped?
>>528044535its a good read, but its mainly a reference piece not to be read in a start-to-finish context. treat it more like an encyclopedia or guide. there's a better translation than my picrel which is a white cover and blue text, it has a very good index in the back. i recommend this as essential reading
>>528044624this is the best version to introduce yourself to this text
>>528044535It says everything politicians want to hear when it comes to war. If anything gets popular in military / economic circles, you bet that it is convenient for the thinking of the time.
How do I learn how war works then if I'm not supposed to believe in this book?
>>528044624>>528044867Thanks for the recommendation, anon. In any case, from what little I know of the book, it does seem to cover rather basic topics, nothing revolutionary seems to have been formulated.I'm therefore skeptical, especially considering his almost nonexistent role during the Napoleonic Wars and his presence in the battlefield at the Auerstedt debacle in 1806.Furthermore, most of the Prussian reforms resulting from that war were copied from the Grande Armée and therefore didn't originate with Clausewitz, I suppose.It might be contextualizing for people unfamiliar with certain aspects of war, but his book seems primarily to be a synthesis of basic conventions that pretty much everyone was already familiar with. Perhaps it's often cited because its content is rather vague, and therefore more eventual regarding multiple contexts.
>>528044535He just copied the methods of Napoleon.
>>528045931>it does seem to cover rather basic topics, nothing revolutionary seems to have been formulatedclausewitz was a soldier during the napleonic wars and fought against the grand armee which is where a lot of his ideas come from (watching napoleon). >It might be contextualizing for people unfamiliar with certain aspects of war, but his book seems primarily to be a synthesis of basic conventions that pretty much everyone was already familiar with.this is how i recommend it. its an easy to read, broad stroke stepping stone which covers everything you need to understand so you can head into the niche topics youre probably more interested in
