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The John Boyd Roundtable: Debating Science, Strategy, and War Paperback – September 16, 2008

by Mark Safranski (Editor), Thomas P M Barnett (Foreword)
3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 20 ratings
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A collection of thought-provoking essays about the work of the late Colonel John Boyd, a fighter pilot who was one of the most influential figures in American military strategy in the last third of the Twentieth Century. This book had its origins in an online roundtable hosted at Chicago Boyz, a popular libertarian and conservative group blog founded by Jonathan Glewirtz. The roundtable attracted the participation of an impressive group of reviewers from the blogosphere and from scientific, academic and military fields. Authors whose essays are included in this book include Daniel H. Abbott, Shane Deichman, Adam Elkus, "Lexington Green," Frank Hoffman, Dr. Frans Osinga, Dr. Chet Richards, Thomas Wade, and Dr. Frans Osinga, author of the leading scholarly work on Boyd.

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in John Boyd and will provide important insights for anyone who is interested in military strategy and current affairs.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    68 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Nimble Books
  4. Publication date
    September 16, 2008
  5. Dimensions
    8 x 0.2 x 10 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1934840467
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1934840467
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Nimble Books (September 16, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 68 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1934840467
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1934840467
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.2 x 10 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 3.6 out of 5 stars 20 ratings

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
3.6 out of 5
20 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

DM
5.0 out of 5 stars Great compendium
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2023
Verified Purchase
Excellent summary of John Boyd's ideas and influence but by no means a source to aid in understanding his concepts. Definitely worthwhile and a good primer to encourage new devotees to his ideas.
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J. Scott Shipman
5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Synthesis
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2008
Verified Purchase
If you're a Boyd admirer, then this book should be in your library. Folks from varying backgrounds (including the great Chet Richards) assess the meaning and impact of the Great John Boyd. The layout is interesting and informative and the reader gains a glimpse of a Boyd not included in Hammonds nor Corams great works (both very good books, with a tip toward Coram). A lot of "greats", eh? BOYD was perhaps THE most influential thinker on military strategy and thinking in the last century. This book will reveal even more of this very consequential man. Highest recommendation!!!
16 people found this helpful
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Choong Hoon Hyun
2.0 out of 5 stars Not a great book
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2013
Verified Purchase
It's like a minute of meeting and its summary. The topic is John Boyd's OODA loop but making a compliment on Osinga's book on Boyd's loop. It gives me the impression that it lures me to read his book. I know that his book is the ultimate book to read on Boyd's but this is not the good method for me to read his book.
3 people found this helpful
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Lineman
1.0 out of 5 stars a disappointment
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2009
Verified Purchase
I've read a few things on Boyd, and was excited to see this book, thinking it would be an updated application and critique vis a vis Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead, this is mostly a series of articles praising Boyd, his long presentations, and the fine book Osinga has written about him. This book is not worth it at half the price. There is more information available for free on the web and wikipedia. And do check Osinga's work, its the best one to date.
21 people found this helpful
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Barry P. Dixon
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Preface to The Mind of War
Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2015
Verified Purchase
Great book that takes you into the mind of Col. John Boyd. We learn how he developed intellectually. Good read and motivating.
2 people found this helpful
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L. C. Rees
5.0 out of 5 stars Round and Round, Genghis John Goes
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2012
Starting in February 2008, ChicagoBoyz hosted a roundtable on Col. Frans Osinga's Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd. This roundtable featured blog posts from these contributors:

Wilf Owen
Daniel Abbott
Dr. Chet Richards
Shane Deichman
Historyguy99
Zenpundit
Lexington Green
Adam Elkus
Colonel Frans Osinga

Of these, Dr. Chet Richards, Daniel Abbott, Shane Deichman, Adam Elkus, Lexington Green, Mark "Zenpundit" Safranski, Thomas "historyguy99' Wade, and Dr. Frans Osinga contributed revised versions of their original posts to a new book (published by Nimble Books) based on the roundtable with an additional essay by Osinga and a contributed essay from Frank Hoffman (originally posted on Small Wars Journal). The end result is The John Boyd Roundtable: Debating Science, Strategy, and War, edited by Mark Safranski and with an introduction by Thomas P.M. Barnett.

A History of the OODA Loop by Daniel Abbott

Abbott does a good job of dissecting the Xs and Os of Boyd's OODA loop and expanding on Osinga's discussion of the origins of the loop in the psychological Zeitgeist of the time. He then offers some preliminary connections of the OODA loop to contemporary state of the art psychology. I found the mapping of the Orientation and Decision stages of the OODA loop with the Automatic System (System 1) and the Reflective System (System 2) paticularly interesting.

The Origins of John Boyd's a Discourse on Winning and Losing by Chet Richards

Boyd was a master of synthesis and Dr. Richards, a close associate of Boyd, provides an interesting expansion on Osinga's examination of the many sources that Boyd synthesized his ideas from. I found this reference to Clausewitz interesting:

People are sometimes surprised that Clausewitz had a strong influence on Boyd, but he did, particularly in the concepts of friction and centers of gravity. He accepted Clausewitz's definitions of these terms and refers to him throughout Patterns more than he does any strategist other than Sun Tzu, some 18 times on eight charts. Boyd's use of these ideas, though, often differed from how they appear in On War.

My initial impression of Boyd's impression of Clausewitz was that he was aping Basil Liddell Hart's often erroneous characterization of Clausewitz as the "Mahdi of Mass".

The Intellectual Legacy of Colonel John Boyd by Shane Deichman

I don't like "chaoplexity" either. Sounds like something you take lithium for.

Osinga's John Boyd Through the Prism of Military History by Thomas Wade

The essence of:

Appear to be an unsolvable cryptogram while operating in a directed way to penetrate adversary vulnerabilities and weaknesses in order to isolate him from his allies, pull him apart, and collapse his will to resist; yet;

Shape or influence events so that we not only magnify our spirit and strength but also influence potential adversaries as well as the uncommitted so that they are drawn toward our philosophy and are empathetic toward our success.

The first sentence is an advice to remain, in the words of Sun Tzu, unfathomable to the enemy, yet operate coherently in several levels of war and across different dimensions.

What does war remain throughout as the centuries fly past? One word: survival.

The Two Colonels: Osinga and Boyd by Mark Safranski

Safranski points out that Osinga was an archaeologist, digging through the thoughts of a man he never met, mapping the innumerable threads of Boyd's thought as they wound, unwound, and rewound over the decades. Osinga has done a lot but there's more to be done.

Why Didn't Boyd Write a Book? by Lexington Green

Lexington Green makes an excellent case that Boyd's dedication to building his listeners into vital components in an open, dynamic system kept him from writing a book. A book would have become the Koran of Boyd, a dead tree weighing down Boyd's legacy with Boyd orthodoxy for years to come. The absence of a Boyd bible means that everyone gets to discover Boyd afresh for themselves. Osinga is the closest you will get to the raw Boyd bible you'll get and its more of a fountain of living water than dead letters inscribed for all time in solid rock.

Applying Boyd: Iraq and Strategy by Adam Elkus

What happens if Boyd isn't a silver bullet? Adam Elkus argues that many of the ideas of Boyd were present in the initial assault on Iraq in Operation Iraqi Feedom/Telic. Saddam's OODA was out looped by "effects" based warfare and fell. Victory: Boyd. But "shock and awe" was all foreswing and no follow through. The Iraqi insurgency was (at least for a while) played the US Army to our Saddam. Their loop was faster for a few years. The solution, Elkus asserts is a greater harmony of strategy focused on "vitality and growth" instead of destruction and greater integration across strategic frameworks. Boyd was one of the few that straddled many schools of military thought.

My Struggle With Boyd by Frans Osinga

Excellent description of his book by the author:

I consider my book akin to the Sawyer or Cleary introductions to Sun Tzu; they serve as texts to tease out meaning of sometimes rather cryptic sentences and paragraphs
handed to us by greater minds.

Something I'd be interesting in seeing for curiosity's sake:

Somewhat to my surprise there was only one seriously critical review that questioned Boyd's work, which was immediately hit upon in about 10 comments. I hope, and I believe Boyd actually would enjoy and encourage, that at some point we'll see a substantial effort which in Popperian fashion aims to critique either Boyd's work or my explanation/interpretation of his ideas, all in the spirit of the `dialectic engine,' the term Boyd often used for describing his comprehensive OODA loop. The debate can use someone who can be to Boyd what Mearsheimer has been to Liddell Hart.

Unlocking the Keys to Victory by Frank G. Hoffman

Frank Hoffman had a chance to attend a legendary Boyd briefing twice, the second being necessitated by his falling asleep during the first. He offers an excellent summary of Boyd's contributions to military thought from the Marines to the Small Wars raging at this moment.

John Boyd and Strategic Theory in the Postmodern Era by Frans Osinga

Good overview of how Boyd's thought underlies both network-centric warfare and the Generations of War. This passage stuck with me:

Boyd aimed for creating adaptable and learning organizations consisting of informally networked teams that could comfortably operate in an insecure environment, due to their reduced information requirements. If everyone understands clearly, and is attuned to, the organization's purpose and/or the commander's intent, explicit communication beyond the objective is superfluous. Because of the shared outlook one knows what to do and what one can expect of others, be it supporting units, higher commands etc., implicit communication will suffice.

Strikes me as one component in the fight against wicked problems.

Overall, this book is an excellent companion to the original online roundtable.

Buy it. Buy it now. Buy the Osinga book too.
6 people found this helpful
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Shlok Vaidya
5.0 out of 5 stars The Dialectic Engine is Alive and Well
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2008
I had the good fortune of receiving a review copy of this book, and after giving it a quick read, I come away impressed: This text demonstrates exactly the right way to approach John Boyd.

Some quick notes:

*Varied experts with extremely diverse backgrounds provide their takes on not so much the Boydian canon, so much as the roots thereof.

*You leave wanting to know more, about everything.

*It doesn't get hung up on military theory, but is Boydian in the full sense of the word.

*Should be included early in any type of program that wants to teach people how to think.
18 people found this helpful
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