On Grand Strategy

by John Lewis Gaddis

Paperback, 2019

Status

Available

Call number

355.4

Genres

History

General Nonfiction

Politics, Government, Law and Public Policy

Business

Nonfiction

All Topics

Collections

Physical Books, EvaStreet

Publication

Penguin (2019), Edition: 2, 384 pages

Description

Distilled from the Yale University seminar, "Studies in Grand Strategy," a master class in strategic thinking surveys statecraft from the ancient Greeks through FDR and beyond as vital historical lessons for future world leaders. "John Lewis Gaddis, the distinguished historian of the Cold War, has for almost two decades co-taught grand strategy at Yale University with his colleagues Charles Hill and Paul Kennedy. Now, in [this book], Gaddis reflects on what he has learned. In chapters extending from the ancient world through World War II, Gaddis assesses grand strategic theory and practice in Herodotus, Thucydides, Sun Tzu, Octavian/Augustus, Saint Augustine, Machiavelli, Elizabeth I, Philip II, the American Founding Fathers, Clausewitz, Tolstoy, Lincoln, Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Isaiah Berlin. On Grand Strategy applies the sharp insights and wit readers have come to expect from Gaddis to times, places, and people he's never written about before. For anyone interested in the art of leadership, On Grand Strategy is, in every way, a master class."--Dust jacket.… (more)

Media reviews

Wall Street Journal

The most important book I read as a student at West Point was a weighty tome titled “Makers of Modern Strategy.” It covered the evolution of strategic thinking from Machiavelli to the nuclear age, explaining the rise and fall of states as a result of choices made by statesmen and generals about

how, where, when and why to employ military force to achieve political objectives. It was an edited text—no one person, it seems, was erudite enough to be an expert across such a broad range of history—and hence suffered from differences in writing style and inconsistencies in theme, but it was the best education in grand strategy available in a single volume. Until now. Yale historian John Lewis Gaddis, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2011 biography of George Kennan, has compiled a lifetime of thought about success or failure in statesmanship into “On Grand Strategy.” Like “Makers of Modern Strategy,” it explores the facets of wisdom, temperament and courage that create great leaders and enduring empires. Unlike its storied predecessor, Mr. Gaddis’s book has the advantage of being a long walk with a single, delightful mind, which makes it much easier for the reader to comprehend the lessons that cohere across continents and millennia.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member barlow304

Professor Gaddis is the founder and one of the co-teachers of a famous seminar on grand strategy at Yale University. This Pulitzer prize winning book is a distillation of that seminar. Professor Gaddis defines grand strategy as a way of linking aspirations, which are potentially limitless, and

resources, which are necessarily limited. Employing examples ranging from Xerxes’s invasion of early 5th century BCE Greece to FDR’s management of World War II, the author shows how to link resources to aspirations, how to see both the big picture and the little details, and how to evaluate theory through practice.

Chapters consider such topics as the invasion of Greece (foxes vs. hedgehogs), the Peloponnesian War (aspirations vs. resources and mission creep), the relations between states and rulers (Machiavelli), Napoleon’s invasion of Russia (losing sight of your objective, not knowing when to quit), the American Civil War (Lincoln as a leader), and Franklin Roosevelt and World War II. For the chapter on Napoleon’s ill-fated venture in Russia, Professor Gaddis uses both von Clausewitz and Tolstoy to illustrate the difficulties of controlling large armies.

A fascinating book, one that should be read by every president and commander-in-chief.

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LibraryThing member dhmontgomery

This book really disappointed me. I expected a discussion of, well, strategy. Instead, this was more of a self-help book with historical examples. Those historical examples were largely context-light, presented as simplistic archetypes of styles of thinking. (Gaddis particularly loves the device of

pitting two historical figures against each other as opposing archetypes.) A reader wouldn't come away from this book with any deeper understanding of military strategy, international relations or politics. You could get some insight about how to think better about challenges in your own life, but I don't think it's particularly good at that, too. Mostly it's just a simplified collection of historical examples shoe-horned into the old metaphor of foxes and hedgehogs — the one where the fox knows many things and the hedgehog knows one big thing. (Gaddis argues for an optimal third way halfway in between, or maybe a little closer to the fox than the hedgehog.) It's a fun metaphor but doesn't really hold up at book length.

Others who enjoy self-improvement books more, or aren't as immersed in history as I am, might like this more. (If someone wants to buy my copy for $5 or $10, you're welcome to it!)

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LibraryThing member Paul_S

If I was being generous I'd say the author is try to teach you something about strategy through showing interesting bits of history that contain teachable moments. Or maybe the author doesn't really have much to say. I too have ready a history book or two in my life, what I wanted is something more

explicit. Otherwise, if you don't have any commentary of your own I'd rather read a better history book than this.

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