{"product_id":"strategy-a-history-9780199325153","title":"Strategy: A History","description":"\u003cp\u003eSelected as a Financial Times Best Book of 2013  In Strategy: A History  Sir Lawrence Freedman  one of the worlds leading authorities on war and international politics  captures the vast history of strategic thinking  in a consistently engaging and insightful account of how strategy came to pervade every aspect of our lives.  The range of Freedmans narrative is extraordinary  moving from the surprisingly advanced strategy practiced in primate groups  to the opposing strategies of Achilles and Odysseus in The Iliad  the strategic advice of Sun Tzu and Machiavelli  the great military innovations of Baron Henri de Jomini and Carl von Clausewitz  the grounding of revolutionary strategy in class struggles by Marx  the insights into corporate strategy found in Peter Drucker and Alfred Sloan  and the contributions of the leading social scientists working on strategy today. The core issue at the heart of strategy  the author notes  is whether it is possible to manipulate and shape our environment rather than simply become the victim of forces beyond ones control. Time and again  Freedman demonstrates that the inherent unpredictability of this environment-subject to chance events  the efforts of opponents  the missteps of friends-provides strategy with its challenge and its drama. Armies or corporations or nations rarely move from one predictable state of affairs to another  but instead feel their way through a series of states  each one not quite what was anticipated  requiring a reappraisal of the original strategy  including its ultimate objective. Thus the picture of strategy that emerges in this book is one that is fluid and flexible  governed by the starting point  not the end point.  A brilliant overview of the most prominent strategic theories in history  from Davids use of deception against Goliath  to the modern use of game theory in economics  this masterful volume sums up a lifetime of reflection on strategy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45648146989109,"sku":"ByrdShop_0199325154","price":25.39,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780199325153.jpg?v=1781710979","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/strategy-a-history-9780199325153","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}