Masters of War: History's Greatest Strategic Thinkers

By: The Great Courses, Andrew R. Wilson

Narrated by: Andrew R. Wilson

Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

From Napoleon's revolutionary campaigns to the way insurgency, terrorism, and nuclear weaponry have defined the nature of warfare in the 21st century, the results of military strategy have changed the course of history. These 24 thought-provoking lectures give you an inside look at both the content and historical context of the world's greatest war strategists.

From the triremes and hoplites of ancient Greece to the Special Forces in 21st-century Afghanistan, strategy is the process by which political objectives are translated into military action - using the means at a nation's disposal to compel an enemy to bend to its political will.

In this concise and rigorous survey, Professor Wilson introduces: Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War; Sun Tzu's famous The Art of War; Machiavelli's strategy for a republic with a citizen-army; Jomini, Clausewitz, and the Napoleonic revolution in warfare; the development of naval strategy and the rise of airpower; Mao Tse-tung, David Galula, and Roger Trinquier's reflections on insurgency and counterinsurgency and their influence on the U.S. Army's Field Manual 3-24; Just-war theory, from Thucydides' Melian Dialogue to Operation Iraqi Freedom; nuclear war, terrorism, and other strategic challenges for the 21st century.

You'll come away from this course with new insight that will allow you to take an informed, active interest in political and military debates - which ultimately will determine the course of our nation.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this course are those of the professor and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2012 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2012 The Great Courses

Necessity

I've listened to this lecture twice now. Regardless of your profession, this lecture provides a great explanation of strategy and critical decision making that can be relevant any where.

Informative, Yet Still Able To Hold My Attention.

While this audiobook certainly didn't go through each and every point of the strategic masters that they mention (with reason, doing so would make this book amazingly long) it managed to do a lot for me in terms of information. Not just information though, information that I could follow and done in such a way that it held my attention.

Professor Wilson brings the masters to the table, a lot of which I haven't really heard much about or had the chance to read and not only goes into their strengths and weaknesses, but also, at times, goes into context for when and what reason those books were written for in the first place as well as giving us a somewhat deeper look into those masters that wrote the books that many a strategic mind study today.

There was a enough information here to help me think in a different manner as well as get interested in picking up and reading / listening to some other books on strategy and history. It also certainly changed some of my views on how things work today in terms of strategy.

I could see myself coming back to this audiobook later in life (maybe as soon as a year or less) and giving it another listen and I'm sure I'd find more to love about this book. If your interested in strategy at all and you want to know more about the masters of strategy as well as some of their strategies, I encourage you to give this book a shot.

Good lecture

Excellent treatise on military strategies however a strong emphasis was given on politics. I also felt very little is discussed on absolute war and some of its consequences such as genocides often employed in ancient wars. This book however is a good representation of acceptable modern war strategy.

Enjoyable just for the history alone.

Enjoyed the depth of history. The course will make you think about 'over-extension' on a daily basis.

Just a masterpiece

Its a masterpiece and joy to listen to. Wilson takes the listeners to the minds of the masters.

Great Historical Overview

Andre Wilson covers the history of strategic thought across cultures and across time. He analyzes the methods of conducting war, both those of winners and loses of conflicts. from Thucydides to Petraeus, Wilson points out the most important patterns, key moments, and strategic developments through history. A great course for those interested in grand strategy.

Very Interesting

Fascinating course on Strategic Thinkers in warfare. I bought the book thinking it was a course on great generals or Admirals, but it really isn't, it is more focused on the strategists that establish the guidelines for nations on how they approach human conflict and warfare. If you are looking for a course that dissects decisions made during great battles, you would be disappointed, however if you are interested in some of the strategists throughout history that have analyzed warfare and attempted to develop concepts for success then I think you would find this course fascinating. Professor Wilson does an outstanding job narrating the course.

Great Sources, Good Variety

Professor Wilson does an excellent job of weaving together Strategic Thinkers of disparate eras. The only real downside is that he seems to shy away from critical thinking as the Strategic Thinkers would think about today's power struggles and policy abuse of military 'instruments'. He also hints at his high esteem for General Petraeus, which as time has shown, is unwarranted. Even so there is very much good in these lectures that far outweigh my minor critique.

Wonderful introduction to strategic thought

Erudite, approachable, and engaging, Dr. Wilson gives his auditors access to the essential toolkit of strategic thinking without “passing the culminating point of victory” and inundating us with too much detail. He moves easily between theory and narrative, to both support the ideas of the masters and to provide counter-examples where their ideas fell short, or had to be reassessed in the face of technological advancement. Well done, sir.

Fast paced art of war

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No I would not. As the title says it is a great lecture series not a great story so the lecturer moves quite fast through the material with the expectation that the listener is well versed in military history. Not for the casual listener more for a student of the military. If that happens to be you well then this is a thorough course covering many characters and military strategies.

Would you be willing to try another book from The Great Courses? Why or why not?

I would buy more classes from the great courses. I own several and while some are hard to follow and keep up with the material I find most to be enlightening and very educational.

Which scene was your favorite?

Fall of Greek states

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. You need a break to absorb the just taught materials before moving on to a new part of history and new countries and their battles.