In Strategy: A History, Sir Lawrence Freedman, one of the world's
leading authorities on war and international politics, captures the
vast history of strategic thinking, in a consistently engaging and
insightful account of how strategy came to pervade every aspect of
our lives. The range of Freedman's narrative is extraordinary,
moving from the surprisingly advanced strategy practiced in primate
groups, to the opposing strategies of Achilles and Odysseus in The
Iliad, the strategic advice of Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, the great
military innovations of Baron Henri de Jomini and Carl von
Clausewitz, the grounding of revolutionary strategy in class
struggles by Marx, the insights into corporate strategy found in
Peter Drucker and Alfred Sloan, and the contributions of the
leading social scientists working on strategy today. The core issue
at the heart of strategy, the author notes, is whether it is
possible to manipulate and shape our environment rather than simply
become the victim of forces beyond one's control. Time and again,
Freedman demonstrates that the inherent unpredictability of this
environment-subject to chance events, the efforts of opponents, the
missteps of friends-provides strategy with its challenge and its
drama. Armies or corporations or nations rarely move from one
predictable state of affairs to another, but instead feel their way
through a series of states, each one not quite what was
anticipated, requiring a reappraisal of the original strategy,
including its ultimate objective. Thus the picture of strategy that
emerges in this book is one that is fluid and flexible, governed by
the starting point, not the end point. A brilliant overview of the
most prominent strategic theories in history, from David's use of
deception against Goliath, to the modern use of game theory in
economics, this masterful volume sums up a lifetime of reflection
on strategy.
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