"I know not whether more is to be dreaded from streets filled with soldiers accustomed to plunder or from garrets filled with scribblers accustomed to lie."

—Samuel Johnson

The conflict between the Pen and the Sword has been a recurrent theme in the history of war. War leaders and generals and the rank and file have attacked treasonable critics and armchair strategists. Writers, in turn, have attacked stupid and bloodthirsty soldiers. "Men wearing rapiers are afraid of goose-quills," Shakespeare commented; Napoleon observed that "four hostile newspapers were more to be feared than a thousand bayonets."

The antithesis is not clear-cut, however. Many great war leaders have owed their positions more to the influence of their pens than to any accomplishments on the battlefield. Throughout history, generals have tried to enhance their reputations by the use of their pens while historians have sometimes lied in fear of the sword. This book is an exploration not only into war but into the minds and nature of those who have engaged in it, with sword and pen, in time past.

THE SWORD AND THE PEN is an important new collection of the major works of the most significant military writers from Biblical times to the present. Here you'll find the thoughts and strategies of such historic figures as Caesar, Machiavelli, Cromwell, Clausewitz, Lincoln, Tolstoy, Lenin, Churchill, MacArthur, de Gaulle, Hitler, and Mao Tse-tung. The wide range of selections covers every aspect of war, including writings on tactics, famous battles, the military personality, the lessons of war, etc. This comprehensive and fascinating volume will be welcomed by serious historians and armchair generals alike.

The selections for this collection were made by the eminent military scientist Sir Basil Liddell Hart, who died in 1971. For over forty years, he was consulted by the leaders and generals of many countries—including such prominent men as Douglas MacArthur and John F. Kennedy. His writings include A History of the Second World War and Strategy. The work on this volume has been completed by his son, Adrian Liddell Hart, who has himself had wide experience of war, serving with the British Navy in World War II and the Foreign Legion in Vietnam, as well as with the United Nations.