Azar Gat

Why do people go to war? Is it rooted in human nature or is it a late cultural invention? How does war relate to the other fundamental developments in the history of human civilization? And what of war today--is it a declining phenomenon or simply changing its shape? In this sweeping study of war and civilization, …

From the ideas of Clausewitz to contemporary doctrines of containment and cold war, this is a definitive history of modern military thought. A one-volume collection of Azar Gat's acclaimed trilogy, it traces the quest for a general theory of war from its origins in the Enlightenment. Drastically re-evaluating B.H. …

This book sheds new light on the origins and nature of modern military thinking. The ideas of Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831)--which remain at the core of strategic analysis today--have previously been examined apart from their 18th-century cultural and philosophical roots. Gat here demonstrates the extent to which …