The author of this text, the Prussian soldier Carl von Clausewitz, had witnessed at first hand the immense destructive power of the French revolutionary armies which swept across Europe between 1792 and 1815. His response was to write a comprehensive text covering every aspect of warfare. In both a philosophical and a practical work, Clausewitz defines the essential nature of war, debates the qualities of a great commander, assesses the relative strengths of defensive and offensive war, and - in highly controversial passages - considers the relationship between war and politics. His arguments are illustrated with examples drawn from the campaigns of Frederick the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte.
