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Books Like The 48 Laws of Power: Six Older Books on Power and War
Six older books on power, war and self-command, each with the weak spot its full review names.
Law of the weekLaw VII: Send His Eyes the Wrong Way
In 1944 a phantom army in southeast England kept German divisions watching Calais while the real invasion came ashore in Normandy.
Reading listsBest Books on War Strategy: Six Classics in Reading Order
Six old books on war, power and discipline, in an order that moves from short principles to campaigns, states, crowds and self-command.
StoriesThe Rear Guard, a Short War Story from Xenophon's Anabasis
Ariston carried a sling, one lead bullet and no supper, and his company was sent to the rear of a marching square that was coming apart.
StoriesThe Wrong Beach, a Short War Story of the 1944 Phantom Army
Harry Lacey stretched canvas over landing craft that would never sail while his brother's unit crossed the Channel to the real beach.
ReviewsThe Art of War
A short, dense set of maxims that holds up on concentration, logistics and spies and dates badly where it turns to omens and the stars.
ReviewsThe Prince
A short, unsentimental manual on winning and keeping a state, built from the Italian rulers Machiavelli dealt with as a Florentine envoy.
ReviewsAnabasis
Xenophon's first-hand account of a Greek mercenary army that loses its generals deep in Persia and fights its way to the sea, then spends its last book on unpaid wages and service under a Thracian prince.
ReviewsThe Officer's Manual: Napoleon's Maxims of War
Seventy-eight numbered maxims, each followed by a commentary note with campaign examples dated from 1644 to 1814.
ReviewsThe Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind
Le Bon argues that crowd members lose their conscious personality and follow whoever supplies images and faith, but he supports the case mostly with anecdote and assertion.
ReviewsMeditations
A Roman emperor's notes to himself on self-command, repetitive in places and most useful where it is most concrete.