Customer Reviews

The Art of War by Baron De Jomini - Special Edition

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Contained in the pages of this book are the most authoritative descriptions of Napoleon's battles ever put on paper. De Jomini was an eyewitness to most of Napoleon's important battles, and privy to the machinations of the Great Man himself. As a member of Napoleon's staff and a keen observer, de Jomini's descriptions of the battles are widely recognized by military experts to be both accurate and insightful.

For an in-depth examination of the tactics and strategy of one of the greatest generals of all time, de Jomini's "Art of War" is unsurpassed. It demonstrates the state of the military art that preceded the American Civil War. Doubtless, the Civil War generals on both sides of the conflict were familiar with this book.

As one of the landmark volumes of military science, this book is still essential to every student of tactics and strategy. The lessons it presents, in its descriptions of Napoleon's battles, are as timeless as the reputation of the genius who crafted them.

Jomini's "The Art of War" is a great contrast to Clauswitz's "On War." Clauswitz rambles on and on to get to a philosophical point of various military topics. Now this is important of course, and Clauswitz is good for military thinkers. But I like Jomini because he writes for military "doers." This book is a great instruction manuel for operational commanders, as an instruction manuel is to a model kit builder.

"The Art of War" covers and defines in Chapter 1 the different types of wars: offensive, defensive, etc. In Chapter 2 Jomini discusses Military Policy, Chapter 3 is on Strategy and Tactics, Chapter 4 Grand Tactics and Battles, Chapters 5 and 6 Geographic and Logistical challenges, and Chapter 7 Troop Battle Dispositions.

Unlike other prominent books on war (by Clauswitz and Sun Tzu) the best part of Jomini's "The Art of War" is that it includes sketches of different orders of battle (Chapter 4). For the brand-new reader of military science this is INVALUABLE because it shows what a flank attack is, an oblique order, a concave order a.k.a double envelopement, and echelon order, to name just a few. Why are these important? Because every Great Captain--Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Caesar, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon--have used at least one of these "universal" strategies to beat a larger enemy. I say "universal" because no matter what time period war is fought, from ancient times to the Persian Gulf War, these strategies can be used over and over again. Technology and tactics are always changing; strategies are the constant. Jomini brilliantly found these universal battle strategies, and wrote them for us! Although he focuses mostly on Frederick's and Napoleon's wars (Jomini fought with Napoleon, the big--er...little man himself!)the author's strategies that he laid out were also used by Alexander the Great (the Greek conqueror used the echelon order to defeat the Persians at Issus) and Hannibal of Carthage (the Romans were annihilated at Cannae by Hannibal's double envelopement).

For me this book is the best scrutiny of operational strategy and military doctrine. It gets to the point. Much of it is written for the 19th century reader but the strategies and principles are very important today. American soldiers sweeped away Saddam's army in 2003 by using enveloping maneuvers and fantastic logistical organization (see Chapter 4 and 6 for info on these topics!). Jomini's book is as pertinent today as it was back during the American Civil War.

This is the third in the Special Edition series on "The Art of War" that I have read, and it was certainly the most graphic so far. Sun Tzu's The Art of War describes generalizations which can be applied to strategy, to battle, or virtually any life situation involving conflict. Not so with Machiavelli or Baron de Jomini. Their versions of The Art of War draw upon the teachings of Sun Tzu with respect to strategy, but the similarities would seem to end there. de Jomini was a brilliant strategist, and a ruthless general. If you enjoy this book, you should go on to read "The Art of War" by Machiavelli, if not the full series. It seems that every age produces a "larger than life" general who intuitively grasps the intricacies of war, and I doubt many people will dispute that de Jomini surpassed even Napoleon's thirst for conquest.

This is a book that the casual reader will find boring and tiresome to read. Even so, this book is fundamental for the understanding of the military institution. Written by a participant in the Napoleonic campaigns it attempts to explain the Napoleon phenomena in rational terms exploring the organization and logistics of the Napoleonic armies. While Clausewitz explores the psychology and the reason in war, Jomini explores the more mundane aspects. Both are essential for understanding the military organization and thinking, but Jomini served as the basic framework for the organization of all major modern armed forces in the late XIX and XX Centuries. Anyone interested in studying the military organization has to start by reading this book. Unfortunately not many military have read it, but they should.