How aggressive military strategies win wars, from ancient times to today
The goal of war is to defeat the enemy's will to fight. But how this can be accomplished is a thorny issue. Nothing Less than Victory provocatively shows that aggressive, strategic military offenses can win wars and establish lasting peace, while defensive maneuvers have often led to prolonged carnage, indecision, and stalemate. Taking an ambitious and sweeping look at six major wars, from antiquity to World War II, John David Lewis shows how victorious military commanders have achieved long-term peace by identifying the core of the enemy's ideological, political, and social support for a war, fiercely striking at this objective, and demanding that the enemy acknowledges its defeat.
Lewis examines the Greco-Persian and Theban wars, the Second Punic War, Aurelian's wars to reunify Rome, the American Civil War, and the Second World War. He considers successful examples of overwhelming force, such as the Greek mutilation of Xerxes' army and navy, the Theban-led invasion of the Spartan homeland, and Hannibal's attack against Italy—as well as failed tactics of defense, including Fabius's policy of delay, McClellan's retreat from Richmond, and Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler. Lewis shows that a war's endurance rests in each side's reasoning, moral purpose, and commitment to fight, and why an effectively aimed, well-planned, and quickly executed offense can end a conflict and create the conditions needed for long-term peace.
Recognizing the human motivations behind military conflicts, Nothing Less than Victory makes a powerful case for offensive actions in pursuit of peace.
- 365 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
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Information
Publisher
Princeton University PressYear
2010Print ISBN
9780691162027
9780691135182
eBook ISBN
9781400834303
Table of contents
- Cover
- Contents
- List of Maps and Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduc on Victory and the Moral Will to Fight
- “A Prince Necessary Rather Than Good”: The Campaigns of Aurelian, AD 270–275
- “The Hard Hand of War”: Sherman’s March through the American South, AD 1864–1865
- “The Balm for a Guilty Conscience”: British Appeasement and the Prelude to World War II, AD 1919–1939
- “Gifts from Heaven”: The American Victory over Japan, AD 1945
- Conclusion The Lessons of the Victories
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
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Yes, you can access Nothing Less than Victory by John David Lewis in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Military & Maritime History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.