This intellectual history examines the reception of Carl von Clausewitz's military theories in Britain and the United States. In the first comprehensive study of the literature, Christopher Bassford argues that the impact of Clausewitzian theory has been underestimated and he follows the trail of Clausewitzian influence from pre-1873 Britain to 1945. Bassford finds that among those who explicitly discussed Clausewitz and his theories were soldiers, journalists, historians, political scientists and propagandists. In bringing this literature to light, Clausewitz in English makes a persuasive case for Clausewitzian theory having a major impact on the broad development of the British and American military thinking. It will be of interest to a wide range of military and intellectual historians.
Chris Bassford is a former U.S. Army field artillery officer. He has degrees in history from the College of William and Mary, Ohio University, and Purdue University. He has been director of studies in the theory and nature of war at the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College and associate professor of national policy issues at the U.S. Army War College. He is presently Professor of Strategy at the National War College in Washington, DC. Dr. Bassford has written scholarly studies, military doctrine, and articles for the popular press. He is the author of several books, including CLAUSEWITZ IN ENGLISH: THE RECEPTION OF CLAUSEWITZ IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA, 1815-1945 (Oxford University Press, 1994) and THE SPIT-SHINE SYNDROME: ORGANIZATIONAL IRRATIONALITY IN THE AMERICAN FIELD ARMY (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1988). He is one of the editors of the Boston Consulting Group's business-oriented CLAUSEWITZ ON STRATEGY: INSPIRATION AND INSIGHT FROM A MASTER STRATEGIST (New York: Wiley, 2001), which has been translated into German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Turkish. From 1995 to 1999 he was involved in the writing of US Marine Corps doctrine, authoring MCDP 1-1, STRATEGY; MCDP 1-2, CAMPAIGNING; and numerous lower level manuals, as well as participating in the writing of several other USMC and Joint concepts and doctrinal publications. His latest book (as editor) is ON WATERLOO: CLAUSEWITZ, WELLINGTON, AND THE CAMPAIGN OF 1815 (CreateSpace.com, 2010, ISBN 1453701508).
He is also the internet editor of THE CLAUSEWITZ HOMEPAGE -- http://www.clausewitz.com/ -- a large educational website that focuses on the German military philosopher Carl von Clausewitz. He is particularly interested in the relationship between Clausewitz's theories and concepts from the field of nonlinear science, a field which is having a great impact on modern thinkers in areas ranging from subatomic physics to economics, archaeology, and evolutionary biology. (The latter field is the subject of his current research.)
