This engrossing anthology gathers together a remarkable collection of writings on the use of strategy in war. Gerard Chaliand has ranged over the whole of human history in assembling this collection--the result is an integration of the annals of military thought that provides a learned framework for understanding global political history.

Included are writings from ancient and modern Europe, China, Byzantium, the Arab world, Persia, and the Ottoman Empire. Alongside well-known militarists such as Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Walter Raleigh, Rommel, and many others are "irregulars" such as...