Strategy

A History

De: Lawrence Freedman

Narrado por: Michael Butler Murray

In Strategy: A History, Sir Lawrence Freedman, one of the world's leading authorities on war and international politics, captures the vast history of strategic thinking, in a consistently engaging and insightful account of how strategy came to pervade every aspect of our lives. The range of Freedman's narrative is extraordinary, moving from the surprisingly advanced strategy practiced in primate groups, to the opposing strategies of Achilles and Odysseus in The Iliad, the strategic advice of Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, the great military innovations of Baron Henri de Jomini and Carl von Clausewitz, the grounding of revolutionary strategy in class struggles by Marx, the insights into corporate strategy found in Peter Drucker and Alfred Sloan, and the contributions of the leading social scientists working on strategy today. The core issue at the heart of strategy, the author notes, is whether it is possible to manipulate and shape our environment rather than simply become the victim of forces beyond one's control. Time and again, Freedman demonstrates that the inherent unpredictability of this environment - subject to chance events, the efforts of opponents, the missteps of friends - provides strategy with its challenge and its drama. Armies or corporations or nations rarely move from one predictable state of affairs to another, but instead feel their way through a series of states, each one not quite what was anticipated, requiring a reappraisal of the original strategy, including its ultimate objective. Thus the picture of strategy that emerges in this book is one that is fluid and flexible, governed by the starting point, not the end point. A brilliant overview of the most prominent strategic theories in history, from David's use of deception against Goliath, to the modern use of game theory in economics, this masterful volume sums up a lifetime of reflection on strategy.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2013 Lawrence Freedman (P)2014 Audible Inc.

What is Strategy?

Here in this book, you learn how strategy is used by historical figures.
How is it that these individuals have been able to conquer their opponents with less than ideal situations? Not enough troops, not enough manpower , not enough what? Could you tell that conquerors of all ages have done one thing in mind, and that is to strategize. What does your opponent plan on doing, what do they think *YOU* are going to do, what will you feign to have the upper hand with a miscalculation?
Listen to this book, and you'll get a broad understanding of how people use this to their advantage. Whether you are just curious to know more, or are wanting to do better in life situations ( whether it be business, or moments of ambiguity )
Don't just play chess, conquer your enemies with strategy.

Do you know everything Jeeves?

"I really couldn't say sir."

erudite, fascinating, loved it
A real workout for my aging brain.

a v e r y l o n g a n t h o l o g y

very thorough.. but even narrator lost track rambling from military to political to business to...

insightful

an amazing journey of learning and intrigued. what breathtaking review of strategy and its profound affects on our society today.

Life is not chess, there are no correct moves

The author quotes John von Neumann (a developer of game theory among many other things) in the beginning of the book to the effect that the Game of Chess doesn't require a strategy because there is an exact mathematically correct move for every situation but for most other areas a correct strategy is not determinable. This book covers all those different areas in an encyclopedic fashion.

The book is a long read, but who among us can't devote thirty hours or more to such an interesting topic. The book is thematically arranged by area (war, politics, social sciences, business, and so on). He'll talk about the different strategies and almost always shows that they work until they don't.

The book illustrates how dangerous it is to just have intuition with a good narrative when developing a strategy while ignoring the empirical and reality. Reality is complex. Most of the time narratives will only get you so far.

Overall a long read, but worth it. There is a central narrative in the book, but sometimes the author didn't understand how to tie his stories together coherently.