Customer Reviews

The Art of Political Warfare

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WOW!

This book not only shows you the relationship between politics and war but also uncovers the real reson why politicians do what they do. Pitney uses well known events as examples to support his writing. From Nixon to Clinton to Newt, Pitney discusses their triumphs and pitfalls, and what they did to achieve them.

The Art of Political Warefare is not just a guide to war and state and local politics but can be applied to corporate politics as well. I am requiring my staff to read it.

John, keep up the good work!

In light of the recent election and it's fallout, we've all become familiar with the use of military terminology in political commentary. In The Art of Political Warfare, Pitney shows how similar the philosophy and strategies are in these two seemingly seperate arenas. Perhaps Pitney's greatest achievement is writing a book that is clear and interesting enough for anyone to enjoy while also breaking new ground and writing on a level suitable for academics and political experts. Anyone who truly wants to understand American politics in the 21st century simply must read this outstanding work.

No better a singular collection in one volume of the key, classic, time-honored principles of engaging in political combat than Jack Pitney has assembled in this one compact paperback. It's endnotes alone are worth the price, and his organization of the subjects and their link with the ancestry of the 'rule' of warfare in political combat is breathtaking. Linking Sun Tzu's "Art of War" with Clausewitz, Patton, Lincoln, Eisenhower and Machiavelli is as close to a perfect melding of those themes as any student of politics would hope to find between two paperback covers.

This unique book breaks a lot of new ground as a practical guide to modern political campaigning, but it has a greater hidden value: "The Art of Political Warfare" is a manual, of sorts, for those leading the global war against terrorists. Pitney takes the elements of military conflict - strategy, leadership, coordination, morale, deception, intelligence and the rest - and applies them to politics. A politician who follows this guide is likely never to lose a race.

More importantly, this book illuminates the battlespace for those involved in fighting terrorism around the world. It shows the warfighter how the strategic application of political warfare, as part of an overall military strategy, can often be far more effective than ordnance and bullets in achieving military objectives. The terrorist enemy already knows this lesson. It's time the civilized world learned it and practiced it. Pitney helps show the way.

From the few pages that I read it links the similarities between warfare and political campaigning. The book just didn't spark any interest in the subject with me and came across as a mediocre history book.