The Author Has Been Preparing To Write This Book During Thirty Years Of Reading, Research, Teaching And Commenting On Military Affairs. It Brings Together In A Single Volume The Themes Explored In His Earlier Bestselling Books And Adds To Them The Insights Gained In His Visits To Many Of The World'S Major Battlefields, A Lifetime'S Friendship With Soldiers Of Different Armies And His More Recent Experience As A War Correspondent In The Lebanon And The Gulf. 'Our Foremost Military Historian. . . It Is The Breadth Of His Grasp Of Civilisation, As Well As The Soldier'S Art, That Makes This Book So Formidable. ' Evening Standard 'A Book Of Breathtaking Scope. . . . A Tour De Force Daily Mail 'Swarms With Brilliant Analysis Ans An Unrivalled Command Of Military History'. Financial Times