Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #492386 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

From Publishers Weekly
From Gustavus Adolphus's 1631 victory at Breitenfeld in the Thirty Years War to Napoleon's 1815 defeat at Waterloo, the primary instrument of military strategy was the grand-scale battle waged with the goal of winning a political as well as military decision. In this first-class study of the battles of Gustavus, Charles II, Louis XIV, Marlborough, Nelson, Napoleon and Wellington, Weigley ( The American Way of War ) brings into sharp focus the irony that warfare throughout the period was most often a matter of prolonged, indecisive struggle that expressed a bankruptcy of national policy. The book traces the development of the professional officer class during the two-century era and the evolution of command and control techniques in the field. Weigley discusses the limitation of violence in battle through the restraints of international law and custom, and analyzes the surprising fact that military tactics, technology and organization remained essentially the same from Breitenfeld to Waterloo. History Book Club main selection.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Weigley, an authority on the U.S. military experience, has written a superb study of the age of "decisive battles"--that period between 1631 and 1815 when war's economic, social, and technological circum stances enabled concentrating large forces on a single field, and when political leaders and strategists hoped to secure quick decisions by means of battle. That hope was most often in vain. As Weigley demonstrates, the "age of battles" was also an age of increasingly indecisive wars. Even Napoleon's great victories resolved issues only in the short run. Exhaustion and attrition, not decision, were the norms of warfare in this period--a pattern sustained and enhanced by the military developments of the 19th and 20th centuries. Weigley's broad scholar ship and lively style make this book indispensable for any collection dealing with the subject or the period. History Book Club main selection.
- Dennis E. Showalter, Colorado Coll., Colorado Springs
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

excellent reference
This book is an excellent reference book for people who have an eclectic interest in European as well as military history. If one has a specialized interest in any of the wars Weigley chronicles this book places them in a larger diplomatic and techinal context. Besides the book's practicality it is also engagingly written and cogently argued. One more note, Weigley includes an admirable mission statement for military historians that their ultimate goal should be to chronicle war so as to promote peace.

Recalcitrant Indecisiveness
This book explores several themes. First, it speaks in generalities to the rise of the Profession of Arms and talks about the development of professional officers. The second major theme is that it dicusses command and control and the execution and management of violence. the thesis is that decision making, technology and professionalism are essential tools that now become part of the overall thought, deliberate strategy planning and development process of the military. Thirdly, it speaks to and explores tactical decisiveness and lastly, it speaks to international law and custom.
All in all this is a great book, but dont expect that the conclusions or answers to these themes will always jump out at you. You will need to read with intention to discern these 4 themes, and some others, and how they may or may not apply to your contemporary comparisons of Modern war, that is from roughly WW II to the Gulf War of 90-91 and Post-Modern War, that is, current warfare post 9-11.
This two hundred year work of analysis ends where it begins. With the analysis of a decisive battle. The last 8 pages sum up a few of the auhtors conclusions; one that comes to mind is the political-military-business training and role that officers must have in order to perform there military roles effectively.
The greatest benefit of this book will be derived when one compares post modern war with the tactical lessons of the battlefield.
The academic debate rages, and will continue to rage over whether or not there is such a thing as the decisive battle. You will need to discern for yourself if the principles of war have changed and if the tactical execution of the battle has a direct correlation to the operational, strategic and or political aspects of war.

ps. read this book slowly and with intention, there is much to absorb here.


Terry Tucker, Prof Military Studies/History
Senior Doctrine Developer SANGMP

A well written, interesting book with a fresh viewpoint.
This is an excellent book providing an interesting alternative viewpoint of historical events that have been reviewed extensively. The author writes with an engaging style which maintains the readers interest throughout the text. The only fault in this excellent book is the number of typographical errors in the text in one case leading to a small factual error. The Dauphine Estates General met at the town of Vizille not Virille as shown in the text.

But still a very enjoyable book!