On War

This unfinished treatise, assembled after Clausewitz's death and first issued in 1832, analyses war as an instrument of policy. He describes the clash of armies as a contest of wills shaped by friction, chance, and moral forces as much as by maps and numbers. Central ideas include the distinction between absolute war and war as it is actually limited by politics, the fog of incomplete information, and the need for a commander who can act under uncertainty. Historical examples are drawn from the Napoleonic campaigns and earlier European wars. It is a work of military theory, not a campaign narrative of a single battle.

Bound in black buckram, cover blocked in silver with a design by Joe McLaren. Black slipcase.