Why read The German Way of War?

Book cover of The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years' War to the Third Reich

Book description

For Frederick the Great, the prescription for warfare was simple: kurz und vives ("short and lively")-wars that relied upon swift, powerful, and decisive military operations. Robert Citino takes us on a dramatic march through Prussian and German military history to show how that primal theme played out time and time…

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European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The German Way of War as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Cathal J. Nolan

Author

Connects military gamblers from Frederick II to Hitler, demonstrating that “rolling the iron dice of destiny” (Bismarck) by starting wars they hoped would be short but even though they knew they could not win if they went long instead, was always the German national tradition. I learned a great deal from this key book about the irrationalities of decisions made to go to war, contrary to the assumption in most analysis that decision-makers weigh the odds with care. And how many wars are started with a roll of the dice and without a real plan to win them? Or at…

From Cathal's list on The best books about how wars are won and lost.