This unique book is the only one to cover the history of military thought in its entirety. Starting with the ancient Chinese writers, and in particular Sun Tzu, Martin Van Creveld takes the reader through Greece, Rome, Byzantium and the Middle Ages before entering the second great age of military thinkers and strategists with moderns like Frederick the Great in the eighteenth century and the genius of Clausewitz on land warfare and Mahan on naval strategy in the nineteenth century. Final chapters take us to the era of modern armoured, air and nuclear warfare, ending with glimpses of what future war might hold in store for us.