"Authoritative and convincing."—New York Times Book Review

The classic, indispensable reference to the theory and practice of war, in the first new edition in forty years

The essays in this landmark book analyze the strategic characteristics of war and its political and social functions over the past five centuries, covering everything from key theorists and political and military leaders to the strategies used in major conflicts. Machiavelli, Clausewitz, and Marx and Engels are discussed, as are Napoleon, Churchill, and Mao. Contributors trace the interplay of theory and experience across generations, analyze the complex relationship between war, technology, and policy, and much more—all while placing military thought and action in their historical context. Now with a new foreword by Lawrence Freedman, Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age reinterprets and illuminates war, one of the most powerful forces in history and one that cannot be controlled in the future without an understanding of its past.