The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War [Hardcover]

Williamson Murray (Editor), Alvin Bernstein (Editor), MacGregor Knox (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 1994

Moving beyond the limited focus of the individual strategic theorist or the great military leader, The Making of Strategy concentrates instead on the processes by which rulers and states have formed strategy. Seventeen case studies--from the fifth century B.C. to the present--analyze through a common framework how strategists have sought to implement a coherent course of action against their adversaries. This fascinating book considers the impact of such complexities as the geographic, political, economic and technical forces that have driven the transformation of strategy since the beginning of civilization and seem likely to alter the making of strategy in the future.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book traces the processes that resulted in military strategies in 17 cases, ranging from ancient Greece and Rome to American nuclear strategy....Each essay is self-contained, and academics searching for brief but expert analyses of strategic case studies for teaching purposes will welcome this book." Foreign Affairs

"...the essays, including those on Israel and the United States in the nuclear age, are presented with remarkable verve and freshness." Brian Bond, Times Literary Supplement

"The essays by some of the finest strategic analysts in the world, both historians and historically minded political scientists, are of a uniformly high quality. The Making of Strategy is an exceptional work. Anyone who wishes to understand the essence of strategy-making as a process, and the factors that influence strategy-making will profit by reading these essays." Mackubin T. Owens, Strategic Review

"One of the advantages of the book is its essays on lesser-known periods for some powers....Military historians and political scientists can benefit from this work, as can students from the upper-division undergraduate level onward." R. Higham, Choice

"The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War offers an important collection of essays which examines the process of strategic decision-making from the Peloponnesian Wars to the nuclear age." The International History Review

Book Description

Seventeen case studies--from the fifth century B.C. to the present--analyze through a common framework how strategists have sought to implement a coherent course of action against their adversaries. They concentrate on the processes by which rulers and states have formed strategy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 704 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1ST edition (October 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521453895
• ISBN-13: 978-0521453899
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,014,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for the seriuos student of strategy., April 21, 2003

By 

"top_cat1980" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War (Paperback)

The purpose of "The Making of Strategy" is to give the reader an insight into how strategy has been made in the past. This is done through various historical case studies which range from Ancient Greece to American Cold War nuclear policy. Each essay tries to show events from the perspectives of those who were involved and attempts to get inside the mindset of the people who had to forumlate and then implement the various strategies.

As has been stated, the essays span a considerable time period, though there is perhaps (definitely in fact) a weighting towards 20th century strategy. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is probably dependant upon the reader's personal taste but I didn't have a problem with it.

The quality of the essays is invariably of a very high quality and the contributors are leaders in the field of Strategic Studies (Colin Gray, Donald Kagan, Eliot Cohen, the late Michael Handel, Williamson Murray, Macgregor Knox etc). Standout chapters include Holger Herwig's withering analysis of Imperial German strategy in the post-Bismarck period and (by virtue both of quality and of the fact that it tackles a relatively obscure and much neglected power's policy) Brian Sullivan's chapter on Italian grand strategy in the build-up to the First World War.

The chapters (excluding the excellent and extensive introduction and conclusion) cover the following periods;

- Athenian Strategy in The Peloponnesian Wars
- Roman Strategy against Carthage
- Chinese Strategy from the 14th to the 17th centuries
- Spanish Strategy under Philip II
- English Strategy, 1558-1713
- French Strategy under Louis XIV
- The United States, 1783-1865
- Prussia-Germany 1871-1918
- British Strategy, 1890-1918
- Italian Strategy, 1882-1922
- Germany, 1918-1945
- British Strategy, 1918-1945
- U.S. Strategy, 1920-1945
- French Strategy in the inter-war period
- Soviet Strategy, 1917-1945
- Israeli Strategy
- U.S. Nuclear Strategy

Aside from the fact that the quality of the chapters is of a very high standard, the great virtue of this book is the way in which it looks into the way nations have made strategy, rather than dealing with specific strategic theories or trying to provide a guide on how strategy should be made (lessons drawn from history aside). It illustrates clearly the frustrations, the balancing of interests, the difficulty in seeing the big picture, the weighing up of ends and means and the FRICTION that plagues policymakers when they put the books away and actually have to make the magic happen.

This book should be read by anybody with a serious interest in Strategic/War Studies. It's a little gem. At over 600 pages, you get your money's worth too.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent & Easy reading, August 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War (Paperback)

"The Making of Strategy" examines the strategy-making processes through the cultural, social, political, organisational and historical ( not just the military ) lenses, starting from the Peloponnesian Wars to the Nuclear Age. The book is also excellent in inrtoducing the concept of Weltanschauung; how a nation's strategic choices are often products of its strategic culture. This helps the reader to understand that despite advances in military technologies; why most wars are fought the way they are fought. Very easy reading and excellent book on the little known process of how strategy is often made.

7 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good ... some uninteresting, December 16, 2008

By 

D. LaGraffe (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Making of Strategy: Rulers, States, and War (Paperback)

I read this as part of an effort to read the entire U.S. Army Chief of Staff recommended reading list. It is on sublist 4, Brigade and higher. It is really a collection of essays organized in chronological order. As a collection, the quality of each essay depends on the individual authors. Some of the areas I just found uninteresting. For example the essay on the strategy development in the Weimer Republic did not seem to have much relevance or anything particulary illuminating. A couple of essays were interesting in that they covered areas you don't read much about like Chinese strategy in the empire periods or Spain's strategy under Philip II. For the most part, though, I had to force myself to finish this book.