The art of making war is among humankind's earliest professions,stretching far back before the written word, when heroic deeds inbattles were carved on stone or recited through poem or song.In thissweeping, lucid history, Martin van Creveld explores militarythought and strategy, from the earliest Chinese military thinkers to20th-century perspectives on terrorism. This incredibly comprehensivebook provides the reader with a gripping narrative of how war has beenwaged in ages past and a glimpse of what war may come to look like inthe future.

• Military theories from Chinese thinker Sun Tzu to experts on guerrilla warfare and the terrorism of today


• Strategiesof the Greeks and Romans as they worked to raise armies, disciplinethem, arm them, and provide them with the means for victory


• Thework of military geniuses Adam von Buelow, Antoine Henri Jomini, andKarl von Clausewitz, theorists who devised strategies still in use today


• Modern armoured air, naval, and nuclear warfare -- how technology has changed the face of battle