De la guerre

By Napoleon I Emperor of the French

Subjects: Military leadership, Operational art (Military science), Strategy

Description: Isolated in St. Helena, Napoleon contemplated writing the great strategic treaty in which he would reveal the secrets of his genius. But he gave up, leaving to posterity scattered fragments. The author picked up the gauntlet, first by bringing together all existing information about "the Eagle": letters, oral histories, and previously unpublished memoirs drawn from archives. Then he ordered this material following the plan chosen by Clausewitz in his famous treatise, On war. The result reveals every thought and action of Napoleon -- who Clausewitz described as "god of war" -- speed, concentration, surprise, maneuvers, exploit the culminating moment of the battle, the pursuit of art, the matrix of war, and mass movement.