On War constitutes the most significant attempt in Western history to understand war, both in its internal dynamics and as an instrument of policy. Since the work's first appearance in 1832 it has been read throughout the world, and has stimulated and influenced generations of soldiers, statesmen, and intellectuals from Marx and Bismarck to Raymond Aron.

The second German edition, published twenty-five years after Clauscwitz's death, introduced numerous changes in the text, which frequently falsified or obscured the author's meaning. These changes were perpetuated in subsequent editions, on which the two previous English translations (1873 and 1943) were based. The present edition by two historians of modern Europe for the first time returns to the original to make a classic of Western thought available to the English-speaking world in a reliable and readable text.

The text has been translated and edited by Michael Howard and Peter Paret, who have also written two of the introductory essays.

In the opening essay, "The Genesis of On War," Peter Paret traces the development of Clausewitz's thought and analyzes the various stages of the work. Michael Howard analyzes the impact of On War on the nineteenth century and on the two World Wars in "The Influence of Clausewitz." A third essay, "The Continuing Relevance of On War," by Bernard Brodie, examines On War in its relation to contemporary strategic theory. A commentary by Mr. Brodie provides a chapter-by-chapter interpretation of Clausewitz's text.