War from the Ground Up: Twenty-First Century Combat As Politics - Couverture souple

Simpson, Emile

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 019933353X ISBN 13 : 9780199333530

Editeur : Oxford Univ Pr, 2016

A propos du livre

Revue de presse

'A work of such importance that it should be compulsory reading at every level in the military; from the most recently enlisted cadet to the Chief of the Defence Staff and, even more important, the members of the National Security Council who guide him. ... It is impossible to summarise Emile Simpson's ideas without distorting them. His own style is so muscular and aphoristic that he can concentrate complex arguments into memorable sentences that will have a life of their own. His familiarity with the work of Aristotle and the history of the English Reformation enables him to explain the requirements of a strategic narrative as effectively as his experiences in Afghanistan illuminate his understanding of the relationship between operational requirements and political objectives. In short (and here I shall really go overboard) War From the Ground Up deserves to be seen as a coda to Clausewitz's 'On War'. But it has the advantage of being considerably shorter.' ----Michael Howard, Times Literary Supplement

'One of the most important assertions in this fascinating book is that the outcome of wars is now less subject to assessment by body counts than to the verdict of civilian outsiders, who make judgments with scant heed to pure military logic. ... This is the first book by an immensely intelligent and interesting young man, from whom much will be heard. He lays down principles of policy-making and war fighting for instance, the key in counter-insurgency is to match actions and words so as to influence target audiences to subscribe to a given narrative with a wisdom lacking in most contemporary foreign offices. ... Ministers would do well to read Simpson's fascinating and provocative study before they launch their next lunge into the unknown. They might then better understand how elusive in modern conflict are the concepts of winning and losing.' ----Max Hastings, The Sunday Times

'Should be read by all aspiring military commanders and their Whitehall masters.' ----The Guardian

Présentation de l'éditeur

*** Shortlisted for the RUSI Duke of Westminster Medal for Military Literature***

SHORTLISTED FOR BRITISH ARMY BOOK OF THE YEAR

As a British infantry officer in the Royal Gurkha Rifles Emile Simpson completed three tours of Southern Afghanistan. Drawing on that experience, and on a range of little-known case studies ranging from Nepal to Borneo, War From The Ground Up offers a distinctive perspective on contemporary armed conflict: while most accounts of war look down at the battlefield from an academic perspective, or across it as a personal narrative, the author looks up from the battlefield to consider the concepts that put him there, and how they played out on the ground. Simpson argues that in the Afghan conflict, and in contemporary conflicts more generally, liberal powers and their armed forces have blurred the line between military and political activity. More broadly, they have challenged the distinction between war and peace. He contends that this loss of clarity is more a response to the conditions of combat in the early twenty-first century, particularly that of globalisation, than a deliberate choice. The issue is thus not whether the West should engage in such practices, but how to manage, gain advantage from, and mitigate the risks of this evolution in warfare. War From The Ground Up draws heavily on personal anecdotes from the frontline, related to historical context and strategic thought, to offer a perceptive re-evaluation of modern warfare.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford Univ Pr
• Date d'édition: 2016
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 019933353X
• ISBN 13: 9780199333530
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 285
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Messaggerie Libri; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; Italie