Selected as a Financial Times Best Book of 2013

In Strategy: A History, Sir Lawrence Freedman, one of the world's leading authorities on war and international politics, captures the vast history of strategic thinking, in a consistently engaging and insightful account of how strategy came to pervade every aspect of our lives.

The range of Freedman's narrative is extraordinary, moving from the surprisingly advanced strategy practiced in primate groups, to the opposing strategies of Achilles and Odysseus in The Iliad, the strategic advice of Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, the great military innovations of Baron Henri de Jomini and Carl von Clausewitz, the grounding of revolutionary strategy in class struggles by Marx, the insights into corporate strategy found in Peter Drucker and Alfred Sloan, and the contributions of the leading social scientists working on strategy today. The core issue at the heart of strategy, the author notes, is whether it is possible to manipulate and shape our environment rather than simply become the victim of forces beyond one's control. Time and again, Freedman demonstrates that the inherent unpredictability of this environment-subject to chance events, the efforts of opponents, the missteps of friends-provides strategy with its challenge and its drama. Armies or corporations or nations rarely move from one predictable state of affairs to another, but instead feel their way through a series of states, each one not quite what was anticipated, requiring a reappraisal of the original strategy, including its ultimate objective. Thus the picture of strategy that emerges in this book is one that is fluid and flexible, governed by the starting point, not the end point.

A brilliant overview of the most prominent strategic theories in history, from David's use of deception against Goliath, to the modern use of game theory in economics, this masterful volume sums up a lifetime of reflection on strategy.

• We started tracking this book on November 9, 2013.
• This book was £10.48 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 190 times in the past 3,814 days.
• The current price of this book is £9.49 last checked 8 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past year.
• The lowest price to date was £7.50 last reached on March 19, 2020.
• This book has been £7.50 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was £18.99 last reached on April 22, 2015.
• This book has been £18.99 one time since we started tracking it.

• Politics & Social SciencesInternational
• Politics & Social SciencesPolitical History & Theory

• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 767 Pages
• File Size: 3,182 KB