On War

Writing at the time of Napoleon's greatest campaigns, Prussian soldier and writer Carl von Clausewitz created this treatise on the art of warfare, which presented war as part of a coherent system of political thought. He is best remembered for his pronouncement that war is a continuation of politics by other means and for his observations on total war. He was careful to distinguish between war and politics, arguing that war could only be justified when debate was no longer adequate, and that if undertaken, its aim should ultimately be to improve the well being of the nation.