For those who believe America is worth defending; The Control Factor explores the psychological maneuvers; fantasies; and entanglements we engage in to avoid clearly seeing the Islamic threat that confronts us. The prerequisite for developing necessary strategies to ensure our survival is taking responsibility for our perceptions and actions.
#2943233 in Books Barnes n Noble 2005-12-22Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .0 x .0 x .0l; .0 #File Name: 0760773564160 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Rules for Generals: don't campaign without itBy R. S. CorzineNapoleon's Maxims of War with Notes by General Burnod is a fascinating little book; both in itself and because of its place in history. It was published in Paris in 1827 just six years after Napoleon's death and almost immediately translated into German; English; Spanish; and Italian. It was state of the art advice for mid-19th Century military men. Stonewall Jackson carried these maxims in his haversack throughout his campaign (though he and Lee sometimes broke the rules).The content ranges pretty widely; encompassing all the topics likely to be of interest to a general in chief. There are practical questions like supply; logistics; the order of march; and where to camp; tactical questions like rules for conducting seiges while defending against relieving armies; how best to coordinate infantry; cavalry; and artillery; the best ways to defend river crossings; etc.; and finally there are some more abstract policy questions like how important morale is and how to manage it; whether a nation is more secure if all of their young men were in the army at one point even if it means fewer old veterans still in the ranks; when it might be permissable to surrender; and whether top generals are ever justified in refusing an order from the sovereign if they believe it would be disastrous to follow.Each of the 78 maxims is followed by a Note from General Burnod who collected the maxims in the first place. Most usually; they are examples of how following this piece of advice led to victory or ingnoring it to defeat at some point in the past. It is interesting to note that only in a minority of cases is Napoleon the role model. Frederick the Great shows up a lot as does Turenne; Prince Eugene of Savoy; and Marshal Villars: all of the great generals from the generations immediately preceding Napoleon. Where they help to illustrate his points; Burnod also includes few quotations from those previous generations' own military memoirists Marshal Saxe and Raimondo Montecuccoli.Some of the battles and campaigns he draws from were familiar to me; many were not. But you don't need to be up on all the wars and campaigns that Europe managed to cram into the 140 years between forswearing religious wars in 1648 and the almost non-stop war kicked off by the French Revolution. His points are clear and concise and his examples easy to follow; even if the place names don't convey all that they did to his original readers.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Great book!By Chad BookAbsolutely incredible. I would highly recommend it to those interested in the concept of strategy and the principles of warfare.
