The Art of Maneuver shows how true maneuver-warfare theory has been applied in campaigns throughout history. With a genius for apt analogy the author shows how our obsession with fighting and winning set-piece battles causes us to overlook an enemy’s true vulnerabilities. But as low-intensity conflicts promise to become the dominant warfare of the future, the importance of maneuver in attacking an enemy’s critical vulnerability will render attrition approaches to warfighting ever more obsolete. Praise for The Art of Maneuver “Robert Leonhard is one of a number of prominent young military writers, like Daniel Bolger, John Antal, Bruce Gudmundsson, and Harold Raugh, whose work appears regularly in military journals. The Art of Maneuver is his first book, and military readers will appreciate his grasp of military history, forceful analysis, and adventurous writing style. . . .This is an important book which deserves the attention of military professionals. . . . Leonhard deserves credit for a hard-nosed attempt to evaluate U.S. strengths and weaknesses as a basis for further improvements in service doctrine, training, and force development. . . . In the celebratory aftermath of a ‘good war,’ such honest self-appraisal is both healthy and encouraging.”—Parameters “This commentary on warfighting is of value to any student of warfare, especially with our current emphasis on the importance of joint and combined operations. . . . This is an intelligent, thorough, and well-researched work. The author’s knowledge is demonstrated amply throughout, and his ability to express maneuver warfare concepts in simple terms is unequaled. . . . An important milestone in the evolution of the maneuver style of warfare. Read it!”—Marine Corps Gazette “Leonhard . . . has combined military expertise and historical analysis for an entertaining and fresh look at maneuver warfare. . . . In one volume, the author offers trenchant, exciting, and masterful perspective on victory in modern warfare.”—National Defense “Robert Leonhard makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of maneuver warfare in this book. . . . Our leaders, junior and senior alike, should find this book well worth reading and contemplating.”—ARMOR Magazine “An important contribution to the on-going reassessment of U.S. Army doctrine . . . A must for anyone seriously interested in the future of Army doctrine—and the Army. . . . Further, it is an excellent starting point for young officers to begin their lifelong study of the art of war.”—ARMY Magazine

Leonhard exposes as folly our view of war as an attritional phenomenon, measuring success in body counts and tons of explosives spent.

"Today, America's armed forces face massive change, a dramatically reduced force structure, and severe budget cuts. The concept of "maneuver warfare" has been put forth as one promising solution to this dilemma. Can a small, maneuver-oriented military establishment actually serve us better, as its proponents claim? This vexing question provides the basis for this important book." "The answers to this question will serve as the foundation for American military doctrine in the 21st century. Here, some of America's finest minds explore the idea of maneuver-based warfare, getting to the heart of the issues and engaging in an energetic and lively debate, with each essay making an independent contribution to the evolving thought. Whether a cure-all or an empty bag of tricks, maneuver warfare theory presents a formidable challenge to the American defense establishment. The synthesis of ideas presented in this volume will be critically important in shaping the post-Cold War world. Everyone in the military, or interested in national defense, should read these thoughtful and controversial essays."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This book argues that time is the primary dimension in modern war and explores the paradoxes of warfare's temporal characteristics. Leonhard introduces a bold new theory that focuses on time as the critical component that controls all other aspects of war. Well-grounded in history, Leonhard's work is certain to take its place as a classic theory of war according to James R. McDonough, who wrote the foreword.

Did Nazi war criminals deceive the United States military during the Cold War? A new book by a Canberra-based historian tells the story of how America’s most famous and influential military theorist was seduced by the lies of Hitler’s defeated generals. From the author of Panzer Commander Hermann Balck and False Flags comes The Blind Strategist: John Boyd and the American Art of War. Colonel John Boyd, a maverick fighter pilot, revolutionized the American art of war through his ideas on conflict and the human mind. Boyd claimed that victory is won by the side which transitions through 'decision cycles' faster than the enemy and his ideas gained influential converts in the Pentagon who were seeking a new way of waging war after defeat in Vietnam. Although Boyd’s theories became the basis of American military doctrine, he relied upon the fraudulent testimony of former Nazi generals who fabricated historical evidence to disassociate their reputations from their defeat and cover up their willing participation in war crimes. Boyd certainly changed the American art of war, but did he corrupt it in the process? The Blind Strategist separates fact from fantasy and exposes the myths of maneuver warfare through a detailed evidence-based investigation. Discover how maneuver warfare has resulted in catastrophic decisions in this must-read for anybody interested in American military history.

Find the Best Squares for Your Pieces! To a large extent, the level of any chessplayer’s skill depends on his or her ability to discover and evaluate positional operations as quickly and correctly as possible. In this book, premier chess instructor and trainer Mark Dvoretsky examines one of the most important aspects of positional skill, namely the art of playing with pieces, of maneuvering and finding the best squares for your pieces. Training your maneuvering skills will help you at every stage of the game – which is why among the exercises there are opening, middlegame and endgame positions, and not only those that are taken from practical games, but also studies. The conscientious student, carefully working his or her way through this book, will help improve positional mastery and significantly enhance overall playing skill.

This book develops and explains the theory of maneuver warfare and offers specific tactical, operational, and organizational recommendations for improving ground combat forces.

The Marine Corps Way of War examines the evolving doctrine, weapons, and capability of the United States Marine Corps during the four decades since our last great conflict in Asia. As author Anthony Piscitelli demonstrates, the USMC has maintained its position as the nation's foremost striking force while shifting its thrust from a reliance upon attrition to a return to maneuver warfare.In Indochina, for example, the Marines not only held territory but engaged in now-legendary confrontational battles at Hue, Khe Sanh. As a percentage of those engaged, the Marines suffered higher casualties than any other branch of the service. In the post-Vietnam assessment, however, the USMC ingrained aspects of Asian warfare as offered by Sun Tzu, and returned to its historical DNA in fighting "small wars" to evolve a superior alternative to the battlefield.The institutionalization of maneuver philosophy began with the Marine Corps' educational system, analyzing the actual battle-space of warfare--be it humanitarian assistance, regular set-piece battles, or irregular guerrilla war--and the role that the leadership cadre of the Marine Corps played in this evolutionary transition from attrition to maneuver. Author Piscatelli explains the evolution by using traditional and first-person accounts by the prime movers of this paradigm shift. This change has sometimes been misportrayed, including by the Congressional Military Reform Caucus, as a disruptive or forced evolution. This is simply not the case, as the analyses by individuals from high-level commanders to junior officers on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, demonstrate. The ability of the Marines to impact the battlefield--and help achieve our strategic goals--has only increased during the post-Cold War era.Throughout The Marine Corps Way of War: The Evolution of the U.S. Marine Corps from Attrition to Maneuver Warfare in the Post-Vietnam Era, one thing remains clear: the voices of the Marines themselves, in action or through analysis, describing how "the few, the proud" will continue to be America's cutting-edge in the future as we move through the 21st Century. This new work is must-reading for not only every Marine, but for everyone interested in the evolution of the world's finest military force.

Emergency Maneuver Training is a textbook for emergency maneuvers and other unusual attitude training programs as well as a source book for independent study. It explains the EMT (Emergency Maneuver Training) Program developed by the author and taught to acclaim throughout the USA. The book--enhanced by 115 illustrations--helps pilots develop an integrated understanding of the direct effects of airplane controls when applied individually and in combination; of human factors and variables introduced into the flight process by pilots; and of proper pilot procedures to remedy difficult situations encountered in flight.