Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!veritas!amdcad!amdcad!military
From: marsh@miles.mitre.org (Ralph Marshall)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Military Books for beginners
Message-ID: <1991May18.051207.11395@amd.com>
Date: 17 May 91 16:52:52 GMT
References: <1991Apr23.053719.23595@amd.com>
Sender: military@amd.com
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford, MA 01730
Lines: 25
Approved: military@amd.com


From: marsh@miles.mitre.org (Ralph Marshall)


I'm about halfway through "Strategy: The art of the indirect approach"
(or some similar subtitle) by B. H. Lidell-Hart (sp???)  It proposes
the thesis that a "direct" approach is never the correct one, and
gives numerous examples from the dawn of history on to back it up.  I
don't know if I completely buy his analysis, but it is a good overview
of a large number of relatively well-known military conflicts.

	[Much of the German Blitzkrieg was inspired by Liddell-Hart's
	 writings.  After WW II (1948) he interviewed numerous captured
	 German Generals as to how things looked from their side of the
	 hill, in a book called "The German Generals Talk."
	 Unfortunately its probably out of print, but its an excellent
	 read.  Note that he doesn't quite say that the direct approach
	 is never correct - if you have a sufficiently overwhelming
	 advantage in men and material you can sometimes get away with
	 it, if you don't care how long you take doing it.  Montgomery
	 is an excellent example.  --CDR]

--
Ralph Marshall (marsh@linus.mitre.org)
Disclaimer:  Often wrong but never in doubt...