https://crowsalt.com/en-us Plain reviews and field notes on the old books of war, strategy and discipline. https://crowsalt.com/blog/books-like-the-48-laws-of-power/https://crowsalt.com/blog/books-like-the-48-laws-of-power/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Reading listsSix older books on power, war and self-command, each with the weak spot its full review names. https://crowsalt.com/blog/law-vii-send-his-eyes-the-wrong-way/https://crowsalt.com/blog/law-vii-send-his-eyes-the-wrong-way/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Law of the weekIn 1944 a phantom army in southeast England kept German divisions watching Calais while the real invasion came ashore in Normandy. https://crowsalt.com/blog/start-here-six-old-books-on-war/https://crowsalt.com/blog/start-here-six-old-books-on-war/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 Reading listsSix old books on war, power and discipline, in an order that moves from short principles to campaigns, states, crowds and self-command. https://crowsalt.com/blog/the-rear-guard/https://crowsalt.com/blog/the-rear-guard/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 StoriesAriston 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. https://crowsalt.com/blog/the-wrong-beach/https://crowsalt.com/blog/the-wrong-beach/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 StoriesHarry Lacey stretched canvas over landing craft that would never sail while his brother's unit crossed the Channel to the real beach. https://crowsalt.com/reviews/the-art-of-war/https://crowsalt.com/reviews/the-art-of-war/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 ReviewsA short, dense set of maxims that holds up on concentration, logistics and spies and dates badly where it turns to omens and the stars. https://crowsalt.com/reviews/the-prince/https://crowsalt.com/reviews/the-prince/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 ReviewsA short, unsentimental manual on winning and keeping a state, built from the Italian rulers Machiavelli dealt with as a Florentine envoy. https://crowsalt.com/reviews/anabasis/https://crowsalt.com/reviews/anabasis/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 ReviewsXenophon'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. https://crowsalt.com/reviews/napoleons-maxims-of-war/https://crowsalt.com/reviews/napoleons-maxims-of-war/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 ReviewsSeventy-eight numbered maxims, each followed by a commentary note with campaign examples dated from 1644 to 1814. https://crowsalt.com/reviews/the-crowd/https://crowsalt.com/reviews/the-crowd/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 ReviewsLe 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. https://crowsalt.com/reviews/meditations/https://crowsalt.com/reviews/meditations/ Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000 ReviewsA Roman emperor's notes to himself on self-command, repetitive in places and most useful where it is most concrete.