I found this set of lectures particularly useful due to Professor Wilson's style in how he presents his content. He talks about the strategic frameworks that each of the masters used, then goes through their application.
Because he explains the frameworks extensively, these courses easily apply to other fields. The trick is understanding the frameworks well enough to recognize what core principles translate to your particular situation. Since the courses cover the frameworks so well, I haven't had much difficulty leveraging what I learned to other areas. The military strategies discussed in this course are greatly related to many corporate, government, and business strategies used throughout the world.
Not only can one pick up the strategic concepts of the great military leaders across time, you can also learn a great deal about successful leadership qualities as well as analyzing what led to the downfall of many leaders and civilizations through this course.
Explore the historical context for Sun Tzu's The Art of War and see how it's been used through the centuries. Tackle the challenge of nuclear strategy - where preventing a war depends on having the weapons to fight in one.
Great Battles of the Ancient World. Wilson, Ph. Professor, U. Naval War College. Course No. Choose a Format Instant Video. Instant Audio. Add to Cart Choose a format in order to add this course to your cart. Add to Wishlist Please choose a format in order to add this course to your Wish List. Andrew R. Who are our masters of war? Paradoxically some of the great works of theory come not from the victors, but from the vanquished.
The lessons of failure are often far more powerful, more enduring. Institution U. What can Thucydides teach us about the war in Iraq in ? What is the key to adaptation during an ongoing conflict?
How do you balance the tension between political and military objectives? Why are insurgency and terrorism such powerful military tactics, and how do you combat them? If war is a gamble, then strategy—the process by which political purpose is translated into military action—is key to success. Join the lively debate over the efficacy of the Sicilian Expedition—was it good for the Athenians to engage in a preventive war far from home?
Then turn to the Melian Dialogue and the debate between realists and neoconservatives over the conduct of war, and consider how this debate still plays out in contemporary America. Business school. Professional sports.
Learn about Machiavelli, the Italian Renaissance man who, in addition to his famous political treatise, The Prince, wrote his own The Art of War, in which he advocated a citizen-army modeled on that of the Roman Republic. See what strategies he thinks a republican military should adopt—and what qualities to look for in a good commander. Experience the battles of Jena and Auerstedt during the Napoleonic Wars.
These two decisive victories fought on the same day against the Prussians demonstrate the radical transformation of warfare and gave rise to two important masters of war: Antoine-Henri Jomini and Carl von Clausewitz. This lecture introduces you to Carl von Clausewitz, who might be the most influential modern master of war.
Compare two modern masters: Jomini, whose ideas are best suited for the tactics and operations level, and Clausewitz, whose philosophy explains why you can win all the battles and still lose the war. Then dive into the question of how much and what kind of political oversight is needed in war. The Industrial Revolution, the growth of global markets, the demand for raw materials, and the transition from sail to steam transformed navies and set the stage for 20th-century warfare.
Building on lessons from Clausewitz and Mahan, Sir Julian Corbett offered a complete strategy that integrated land and sea operations. Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor? The 20th century saw the rise of air power and the creation of independent air forces in Britain, the United States, and elsewhere.
Tackle the challenge of nuclear strategy where, paradoxically, preventing war depends on having massive capabilities for fighting a war. Professor Wilson explains the nuances of deterrence, retaliation, mutual assured destruction, arms limitation, and more. The key to an insurgent uprising is to buy time with a strategic defense, to build legitimacy and cultivate friends abroad during a strategic stalemate, and to take over in a strategic counteroffensive.
How do you fight a revolutionary uprising? This lecture shows how these theories from the s apply in 21st-century Iraq and Afghanistan. Is war ever morally justified? A lesser observation, but worth mentioning, is that the method of delivering information in the video series primarily consists of Professor Wilson speaking in a room filled with historical artifacts.
On occasion the sameness of the lectures' visual presentation weighs on the student. Perhaps the presentations could be augmented more frequently with the use of either maps depicting key elements of battles used as case studies or videos illustrating the historical events discussed in the lecture.
Given that high-budget production is rare in academic video series, this minor critique may be a high hurdle to clear.
Overall, the methods of analysis and presentation are effective, based on the intended procedure. The primary point of this critique is that the topic is better served with a broader methodological approach. Despite this review's suggestions for improvement, the cumulative effect of the lectures is a positive one, and they achieve the stated intent of introducing students to the broad array of strategic theory and its importance to the study of war.
Perhaps this idea is captured best in the concluding lecture during which Professor Wilson effectively closes the loop on the importance of studying strategic thought for the senior military leader. He emphasizes the necessity of connecting the strategy bridge from the arena comfortable for the military professional operational and tactical levels of war to the less familiar strategic level. The latter requires a better understanding and ability to operate in the political arena to effectively connect political objectives to tactical military action and synchronize that action with the other instruments of national power.
Book Reviews. Pastebin API tools faq. Login Sign up. Oct 18th, Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up , it unlocks many cool features! What can Thucydides teach us about the war in Iraq in ? Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Masters of War , please sign up.
Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list ». Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. This series of lectures covers many writers and thinkers on the subject of strategy in war and International relations. I think every book and series of lectures will have some nuggets that a person can toss onto the pile.
I think, as well, if you the right kind of person this will be much more relevant and fascinating to you. Maybe this is more about when these lectures were produced, than the fact that he takes those guys super seriously.
Then again, maybe they did know. Perhaps, as the situation continued to deteriorate in Iraq, Cheney and his buddies cried all the way to the bank. Anyway, if the subject of strategy on a grand scale interests you, you might enjoy these lectures more than I did. Based on some of the other reviews and ratings, lots of people did. May 24, Edward Edwards rated it it was amazing Shelves: history. An engaging lecture on how humans have thought about conquering one another over the course of years.
My biggest fear going into this lecture was Wilson would be overly prescriptive with strategic concepts. I was pleased to see while he did give thinkers like Jomini their due, he is careful to show how a rigid adherence to any one school of strategy is doomed to failure. I particularly appreciated his breakdown of thinkers like Thucydides and Clausewitz. Even thought I was already familiar An engaging lecture on how humans have thought about conquering one another over the course of years.
Even thought I was already familiar with both of these writers, he cogently broke down why both of them are so enduring today. The dark horse thinker of the course for me was Mao. While Wilson makes it clear he doesn't endorse any of his results, he made the convincing case why any insurgent of the 21st century is either pulling from or responding to Mao in some way. I would recommend this lecture to anyone curious about the history of conflict, or wants to know about how humans have created an art to besting one another.
Jun 19, Gilbert Stack rated it really liked it. These are men who built the foundations of strategic thinking in the military world and its interweaving with political thinking. If you liked this review, you can find more at www. Mar 25, Tzu rated it really liked it Shelves: audiobooks , own , warfare , history. Good overview of strategic thinking in war, especially for initiates. Feb 06, Chad rated it it was amazing Shelves: war. Makes me wish I had taken a Different path in life.
View 1 comment. Dec 01, Nilesh rated it it was amazing Shelves: good-history-etc. Masters of War is an outstanding course from every which angle. The subject is fascinating and not widely covered in other courses. The pace is just right. Prof Wilson does not have his topics bound by the chapter time limit of thirty minutes. He seems to be able to have enough to say, and no more or less, for every subject.
Most importantly, the course adheres to its theme. There are no needless historic diversions because they provide good tales. Thinkers are clearly people who elaborated on t Masters of War is an outstanding course from every which angle. Thinkers are clearly people who elaborated on their strategic thinking rather than successful or known generals of war whose strategic thinking is interpreted through the actions they may have taken.
The Professor does not hesitate in providing a critical analysis of various lines of thoughts explained in the course. This genuine analysis is based on the actual examples of these tactics' applications intended or unintended , as well as through thought experiments and counterfactuals. The lecturer does not hesitate - with solid reasoning - taking up good strategic thoughts provided by generally-vilified personalities like Mao nor trash the hallowed actions of favourites like Alexander or Napolean.
The course is extremely well-structured. There is a lot to learn as one moves from the infantry-based battles to the modern naval and nuclear warfares.
0コメント