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On Grand Strategy

On Grand Strategy

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  • Create Date：2021-11-21 09:53:47
  • Update Date：2025-09-13
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  • Author：John Lewis Gaddis
  • ISBN：0141987227
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Summary

'A training manual for our troubled times 。。。 It makes sense of our world， but is also capable of beautifully crafted pithy historical judgements。 。。。 It is a book that cares about liberty， choice and a moral compass， that warns against hubris' Roger Boyes， The Times

John Lewis Gaddis， the distinguished historian and acclaimed author of The Cold War， has for almost two decades co-taught the grand strategy seminar at Yale University with his colleagues Charles Hill and Paul Kennedy。 Now， in On Grand Strategy， Gaddis reflects with insight and wit on what he has learned。

In chapters extending from the ancient world through World War II， Gaddis assesses grand strategic theory and practice in Herodotus， Thucydides， Sun Tzu， Octavian/Augustus， Saint Augustine， Machiavelli，Elizabeth I， Philip II， the American Founding Fathers， Clausewitz， Tolstoy，Lincoln， Wilson， Franklin D。 Roosevelt， and Isaiah Berlin。

'For the past 16 years Gaddis has taught a course on grand strategy to students at Yale University。 Reading his book， you wish every university could offer it。 Gaddis roves across the centuries， offering advice on subjects from statecraft and warfare to leading a worthwhile life' Phillip Delves Broughton， Evening Standard

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Reviews

Jeremiah Dunham ，

This was much different than I expected， but I liked it。 A good mix of history， philosophy， politics， and yes， strategy， it was extremely well-written and cohesive。 The one knock on it is that I found myself waiting for the punchline over and over throughout the book。 I'm sure there are lots and lots of great conclusions to be drawn from the material， but I didn't hear many given， save a few at the end。 This was much different than I expected， but I liked it。 A good mix of history， philosophy， politics， and yes， strategy， it was extremely well-written and cohesive。 The one knock on it is that I found myself waiting for the punchline over and over throughout the book。 I'm sure there are lots and lots of great conclusions to be drawn from the material， but I didn't hear many given， save a few at the end。 。。。more

Ilmar Teixeira ，

Eu comecei empolgado com a leitura mas depois vou murchando。 Depois dos 50% só queria quebo livro acabasse。 Os prof falaram que era uma leitura mais difícil mas não imagina tanto。Outro detalhe é que， em alguns momentos， noto que o autor tenta defender alguma ideia abordada ao invés de expô-la e discursar prós e contras。 Posso estar doido tb。

Alessandro Muniz ，

Um dos livros mais difíceis que já li。 Me esforcei para terminar como plano de leitura do clube do livro， entretanto， serviu de exercício para futuras leituras não tão prazerosas。 De qualquer forma， o livro possui uma análise interessante de como grandes estratégias foram usadas através da história da humanidade。。

Fabio Zacà ，

A great book about political strategy through centuries。Highly recommended！

J。 David Knecht ，

I really wanted to like this book more than I did。 It has everything I normal like。 Discussions on strategic decisions going back to Athens and Sparta until the Cold War。 Individual sections were brilliant but had trouble figuring out what holds the book’s argument together。

Tim ，

I loved this book only wish I could take the class。 The book was amazing it was like sitting in these amazing lectures。 I look forward to reading his other books。

Dani Koga ，

Tem um início bastante interessante， gostei bastante da referência da raposa e porco espinho， “A raposa sabe muitas coisas mas o porco-espinho uma só， mas muito importante” que o autor utiliza ao longo da narrativa dos diversos grandes personagens da história e suas estratégias。 A partir da metade do livro a leitura fica mais difícil e menos envolvente mas ainda assim há ótimas conexões e aprendizados ao longo das passagens entre batalhas， guerras， politica onde fica claro o papel da capacidade Tem um início bastante interessante， gostei bastante da referência da raposa e porco espinho， “A raposa sabe muitas coisas mas o porco-espinho uma só， mas muito importante” que o autor utiliza ao longo da narrativa dos diversos grandes personagens da história e suas estratégias。 A partir da metade do livro a leitura fica mais difícil e menos envolvente mas ainda assim há ótimas conexões e aprendizados ao longo das passagens entre batalhas， guerras， politica onde fica claro o papel da capacidade de equilíbrio， não perder o senso comum， e alinhamento entre as aspirações potencialmente ilimitadas com as capacidades limitadas parafraseando o autor， deve haver travessias entre eles permitindo os diálogos estratégicos alinhando meios e fins。 Reconheço que não é o meu perfil de livro mas achei interessante e aprendi algo como parte do clube de leitura que participo 。。。more

Miebara Jato ，

This book covers nothing close to a grand strategy。 It's a redundant analysis and comparison of some great minds by an ivy-league scholar。 This book covers nothing close to a grand strategy。 It's a redundant analysis and comparison of some great minds by an ivy-league scholar。 。。。more

Adam ，

What forms of strategy become relevant？ Do they shift over time and context？ Gaddis highlights Isaiah Berlin's concept of 'hedgehogs and foxes'， drawing parallel after parallel， from Greece to WWII。 One of the more interesting takeaways is found in his comparison of the outcomes of positive liberty and negative liberty。4 stars。 A thoroughly exhaustive set of examples proffered in support of its thesis。 Informative， yet a bit dense。 What forms of strategy become relevant？ Do they shift over time and context？ Gaddis highlights Isaiah Berlin's concept of 'hedgehogs and foxes'， drawing parallel after parallel， from Greece to WWII。 One of the more interesting takeaways is found in his comparison of the outcomes of positive liberty and negative liberty。4 stars。 A thoroughly exhaustive set of examples proffered in support of its thesis。 Informative， yet a bit dense。 。。。more

Rohan Dalvi ，

Quick overview of some selected strategic concepts （e。g。， hedgehogs vs foxes， Clausewitz's military thinking）。 Showed how some concepts can be applied to analyze the career of various political and military practitioners。 However， I thought the depth of analysis was pretty shallow and there wasn't enough of a 'storytelling' element。 That said， I really want to read Gaddis' book on the cold war。 Quick overview of some selected strategic concepts （e。g。， hedgehogs vs foxes， Clausewitz's military thinking）。 Showed how some concepts can be applied to analyze the career of various political and military practitioners。 However， I thought the depth of analysis was pretty shallow and there wasn't enough of a 'storytelling' element。 That said， I really want to read Gaddis' book on the cold war。 。。。more

Abdulfattah Popoola ，

I do not agree with most of his theories however the book got me to think， helped me draw corollaries between recent and historical events， and gave me many Aha moments！ I like his research - quite thorough and enlightening。 I think the last chapters were weak and somewhat fluffy。OK read。

Oliver Dutton ，

Vapid， superficial， often metaphysical where inappropriate。 These qualities combine with an eccentric writing style mean it should be avoided。

Jwduke ，

Read this if you are interested in or practice politics， advanced history， or international relations and war。 Do not read this if you are looking for a basic text book on history or philosophy。 Looking at the other reviews I have a conclusion; others haven’t read the books this book goes over in detail。 You need to read at least: “city of god”， “on war” “the prince”， and “war and peace”。 Maybe you can skip on war。 This book is true to its title， and the other books mentioned are key to actually Read this if you are interested in or practice politics， advanced history， or international relations and war。 Do not read this if you are looking for a basic text book on history or philosophy。 Looking at the other reviews I have a conclusion; others haven’t read the books this book goes over in detail。 You need to read at least: “city of god”， “on war” “the prince”， and “war and peace”。 Maybe you can skip on war。 This book is true to its title， and the other books mentioned are key to actually understanding grand strategy。 City of god for example is key to understanding an example why some leaders choose the actions they choose in a religious context vs a rational one。 The book shows how there are people who think big with vision and miss details， and there are people who are detial oriented who lack vision。 The book encourages thinking in time， space， and scale。 Most of us never consider scale， and that is where “the prince” vs “the city of god” contrast。 。。。more

Udit Nair ，

It started out as promising read but it kept getting drier afterwards。 It might be of great interest to somebody who is curious about war strategies but it didnt interest me at all。 Probably also because it's a compilation of lectures and hence there wasnt any background to the theme discussed。 It started out as promising read but it kept getting drier afterwards。 It might be of great interest to somebody who is curious about war strategies but it didnt interest me at all。 Probably also because it's a compilation of lectures and hence there wasnt any background to the theme discussed。 。。。more

Sylvie ，

Extremely hard to read and understand the intent of the book。 The idea behind it is good， yet there are better ways to organize the background history to match the intent of the book。 I had to give up only 20% in the book as it was impossible for me to gather any motivation to continue。

Dustin ，

Hands down one of the best books I have read。 Not easy to follow at times， however， entirely thought-provoking and free flowing。

Strick ，

One of the best this year

Christian Allard ，

There are some quality lessons in this book however it would have been far more palatable if it had been along form article in the Atlantic， New Yorker， Foreign Affairs， etc。 JLG seemed to lose his way a lot of the time and spent too much space quoting others， I wish he would have shortened the content and honed in on its lessons。

Cal U'Ren ，

Some of the examples and subject matter choices are overused in my opinion， but the writing is so deeply intelligent that it doesn’t matter。

Hima ，

Ch 1 piqued my interest but quite unreadable after that。

Arturo Herrero ，

No es un libro sobre grandes estrategias sino un batiburrillo de momentos históricos que no ofrecen claras conclusiones。 Funciona como libro de historia， pero ya tenemos Momentos estelares de la humanidad。 Catorce miniaturas históricas。"Jerjes no fue capaz de dominar sus ambiciones y Artábano no supo controlar sus miedos: ambos sucumbieron， de forma diferente， a la falta de temperamento。 Pericles pasó de la tolerancia a la represión en un solo discurso y Atenas no tardó en tomar el mismo camino。 No es un libro sobre grandes estrategias sino un batiburrillo de momentos históricos que no ofrecen claras conclusiones。 Funciona como libro de historia， pero ya tenemos Momentos estelares de la humanidad。 Catorce miniaturas históricas。"Jerjes no fue capaz de dominar sus ambiciones y Artábano no supo controlar sus miedos: ambos sucumbieron， de forma diferente， a la falta de temperamento。 Pericles pasó de la tolerancia a la represión en un solo discurso y Atenas no tardó en tomar el mismo camino。 Octaviano prosperó mediante el aprendizaje del autocontrol; Marco Antonio fracasó por olvidarlo。 Agustín y Maquiavelo legaron la mano dura y la mano blanda con que Felipe II e Isabel I darían forma a diferentes mundos nuevos。 Napoleón perdió su imperio por confundir aspiraciones y capacidades， y Lincoln salvó a su país esquivando esa confusión。 Wilson， el constructor， decepcionó a su generación; Roosevelt， el malabarista， superó las expectativas de la suya。" 。。。more

Erik ，

rambles on

David McGrogan ，

I found this unenlightening and actually， at times， actively irritating。 It is like reading a long pub conversation with a very well-read show-off: a lot of incoherent blather and half-baked reflections informed by a dimly remembered classical education。 To top it all off it is simply badly written， with entire paragraphs comprising， frankly， nonsense。 Not recommended - although the footnotes/endnotes are good。

Bartosz Bolechow ，

Skończyłem właśnie frustrującą lekturę polskiej edycji „Geniuszy strategii” （całkowicie bezsensowne tłumaczenie oryginalnego tytułu „On Grand Strategy”） Johna Lewisa Gaddisa。 Bywają oczywiście prace akademickie poważnie niedomagające w kwestii ramy teoretycznej， tezy， struktury albo klarowności。 Sam pewnie nie jestem bez winy， więc kamieniami ciskać bym nie chciał。 Wiele z tych prac jest zresztą - mimo rozmaitych braków - całkiem użytecznych。 I książka Gaddisa także do pewnego stopnia jest użyte Skończyłem właśnie frustrującą lekturę polskiej edycji „Geniuszy strategii” （całkowicie bezsensowne tłumaczenie oryginalnego tytułu „On Grand Strategy”） Johna Lewisa Gaddisa。 Bywają oczywiście prace akademickie poważnie niedomagające w kwestii ramy teoretycznej， tezy， struktury albo klarowności。 Sam pewnie nie jestem bez winy， więc kamieniami ciskać bym nie chciał。 Wiele z tych prac jest zresztą - mimo rozmaitych braków - całkiem użytecznych。 I książka Gaddisa także do pewnego stopnia jest użyteczna。 Jednak tutaj， moim zdaniem， kuleje właściwie wszystko， to znaczy teoria， struktura， cel i klarowność。 Argumentacja waha się od sensownej， przez trywialną， wątpliwą， po zupełnie nieczytelną。 Myślałem， że to wina słabego tłumaczenia， ale sądząc po innych opiniach， oryginał jest równie mętny。 Momentami nie miałem bladego pojęcia o co chodzi Gaddisowi， mimo iż tematyka nie jest mi obca i od lat sam prowadzę uniwersytecki kurs studiów strategicznych。 Jeśli moje wykłady są równie komunikatywne， jak praca Gaddisa， to współczuję swoim studentom。 Przykład， który jest jednocześnie puentą książki o wielkiej strategii„Największe sprzeczności， z jakimi będziemy musieli sobie poradzić w naszym umyśle i naszej duszy， to te zachodzące między żywymi i martwymi， i to bez względu na „teraźniejszość”， w jakiej przyszło nam funkcjonować。 Bez względu na to， kto znajduje się po obu końcach liny， na której balansujemy， wszyscy - cóż， prawie wszyscy - zasługują na szacunek”。 The end。 Hę？Niektóre anegdoty są ciekawe， niektóre analizy przypadków historycznych - intelektualnie pożyteczne。 Można tu znaleźć również cenne i frapujące idee - przekonuje mnie np。 argumentacja Gaddisa o mechanizmie „rozrzedzania się” zasobów zdrowego rozsądku w miarę wspinania się po szczeblach hierarchii władzy。 Rozdział o wojnie peloponeskiej spokojnie nadaje się przedyskutowania na zajęciach。 Niestety bardziej to wszystko przypomina zbiór pospiesznie pozszywanych notatek z wykładów niż porządną monografię。 Sugerowane powiązania między refleksjami świętego Augustyna， praktycznymi zaleceniami Machiavellego， historiozofią Tołstoja， filozofią polityki Berlina i polityką Lincolna wydają mi się dość wysilone。 A wartościowe treści trzeba mozolnie wyłuskiwać spośród historycznych narracji i enigmatycznych komentarzy。 Bardzo brakuje porządnej syntezy w podsumowaniu。 Problemem jest także to， że przedmiotem analizy są teksty same w sobie bardzo trudne w odbiorze （jak „O wojnie”， czy „Civitas Dei”）。 Gdy do tego dodamy często mało klarowne autorskie interpretacje Gaddisa， można spodziewać się u wielu czytelników wrażenia chaosu i bezradności。 Sama recepta na udaną wielką strategię jest natomiast tyleż słuszna， co zarazem trywialna i trudna do urzeczywistnienia w praktyce z oczywistych powodów: dążyć do dobrze zdefiniowanego celu， zachowując zdolność do elastyczności i improwizacji w reakcji na nieoczekiwane przeszkody oraz gotowość do redefinicji samego celu w razie sposobności lub konieczności。 Ograniczać ambicje。 Powściągać arogancję， ale i nie ulegać strachowi （i emocjom generalnie）。 Nie wznosić się zbyt wysoko w abstrakcje teorii， ani nie analizować sytuacji z żabiej， detalicznej perspektywy， gwarantującej krótkowzroczność lub paraliż decyzyjny。 Czekać na właściwą sposobność， ale nie być biernym。 Zadowolić się tym， co w danych warunkach możliwe do osiągnięcia。 Wszystko pięknie， ale można to było jaśniej zademonstrować。 Generalnie nie polecam。 Zwłaszcza początkującym - strategia jest zagadnieniem wystarczająco złożonym i paradoksalnym， aby nie fundować sobie na wstępie mętliku w głowie。 。。。more

Jacob ，

DNF

Michael ，

It reads like a series of lectures， which I believe it is based on。 The author frames the topic of the behavior of strategists as more adaptable （fox-like） or more steadfast （hedgehog-like） and uses historical examples from ancient Persia to WW2 to illustrate effective and ineffective strategic thinking。 They are entertaining stories and I can imagine students leaving the room feeling that they'd had an intellectual experience--something to do with consistency of ends but flexibility of means an It reads like a series of lectures， which I believe it is based on。 The author frames the topic of the behavior of strategists as more adaptable （fox-like） or more steadfast （hedgehog-like） and uses historical examples from ancient Persia to WW2 to illustrate effective and ineffective strategic thinking。 They are entertaining stories and I can imagine students leaving the room feeling that they'd had an intellectual experience--something to do with consistency of ends but flexibility of means and not becoming pig-headed when you get to the top。 I'm still undecided about the value of the book。 The author tells stories to teach， which is the oldest form of conveying wisdom about complex topics。 Recounting and thinking about past successes and failures helps the student form a mental model for guiding their own thinking and behavior。 But this is a book， not a campfire or lecture hall and， to me， what was missing was the out of class readings （more stories maybe） and the class discussion that would have helped me see the facts and consider the ideas from other points of view。 Availing yourself in real time of what's on other people's minds is far easier in a classroom environment than it is in a book or on-line。So， at last， I found the stories good reading but the experience of reading this distillation of his course incomplete for one who wanted to learn more about strategic thinking。 To me， this pointed out the value of face to face group instruction for considering complex topics over the economic convenience of remote on-line self-study。 The advantage might not apply to topics that are not complex。The big idea he presents that I think anyone would benefit from is an appreciation of politics as "the art of the possible"， of realizing the danger of having ends that lie beyond our means， and the great harm done in the all-or-nothing self-righteous pursuit of political utopias。 Certainly relevant in today's political climate in the country and world。 。。。more

Jung Edda ，

Good read。 Not great。

Cody ，

I dont know that I got much out of this book that I was expecting。 Its based on the Isaiah Berlin quote about how foxes know how to do lots of things and hedgehogs know how to do one thing and it seeks to use world history as a guide to figure out what combination is best。 In the end， I feel like I was left with a lot of stories about Julius Caesar， St。 Augustine， Machiavelli， Tolstoy， Abraham Lincoln， and FDR， but without much practical discussion of how they play into the thesis of the book。

C Harris ，

Long book but good read

Joshua Guest ，

I was hoping this would be for grand strategy what Michael Sandel's book was for justice。 Sandel's book Justice was based on his very popular Harvard course and it captured well the essence of the course while remaining interesting。 I am sure that Gaddis's course on grand strategy is probably among the best of its kind， but the greatness of the course doesn't exactly shine through in the reading。 But since Yale is not allowing universal enrollment this volume will have to do for the rest of us p I was hoping this would be for grand strategy what Michael Sandel's book was for justice。 Sandel's book Justice was based on his very popular Harvard course and it captured well the essence of the course while remaining interesting。 I am sure that Gaddis's course on grand strategy is probably among the best of its kind， but the greatness of the course doesn't exactly shine through in the reading。 But since Yale is not allowing universal enrollment this volume will have to do for the rest of us plebs。 。。。more

Reference

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