On Strategists and Strategy

Lawrence Freedman was Professor of War Studies at King's College London from 1982 to 2014 and Vice-Principal of the College from 2002 to 2013. He was the Official Historian of the Falklands Campaign and a member of the UK Inquiry into the Iraq War. He is the author of several books, including Strategy: A History (Oxford, 2013).

• Introduction PART I: ORIGINS 1: On Scepticism and Scavenging 2: Michael Howard: A Reminiscence PART II: ACADEMICS AND POLICY-MAKING 3: Academics and Policy-Making: Rules of Engagement 4: Review Essay, Michael Desch, Cult of the Irrelevant 5: The Benefits of Hindsight: Historical Research and Political Accountability 6: The Chicago Speech and Criteria for the Use of Force 7: Iraq 20 Year On: The Story of the Missing Weapons of Mass Destruction 8: The UK Military Contribution to the Iraq War 9: Blair's Decision to Support Bush's War PART III: PEOPLE 10: Strategy's Evangelist: Colin Gray 11: The Intellectual Legacy of Michael Quinlan 12: Robert Jervis, Realism, and Misperceptions 13: John McDonald: Poker-Playing Popularizer of Game Theory 14: Strategic Fanaticism: Vladimir Putin and Ukraine15: Nelson Mandela as a Strategist PART IV: ISSUES 16: Ancient Lessons for Modern Crisis 17: The Death of Captain Waskow: In Praise of the Infantry 18: Does Artificial Intelligence Change the Nature of War? 19: Terrorism as Strategy 20: Israel: Beyond Deterrence 21: For King and Country 22: Stalemate, Zugzwang, and a Long Middle Game PART V: REVIEWS23: Oppenheimer: The Bomb, Morality, and Strategy 24: My Kendom for a Horse? Barbie: A Strategic Analysis

For some, strategic thinking should be based on hard metrics and shorn of sentiment. Lawrence Freedman's collection of essays turns that proposition on its head. Part autobiographical, spanning a remarkable career spent at the coalface of national security debates, the book is full of unobtrusive charm, humanity and critical self-infliction. Freedman packs a considerable punch as he ponders the limits of deterrence and the ever-darkening geopolitical storm clouds on the horizon.