The book devotes particular attention to the relentless pursuit by military commands of certainty – regarding the enemy, the conditions on the battlefield and, naturally – regarding the forces subordinated to them. The primary argument presented in the book is that the most essential function of military command is dealing with the issue of uncertainty. To illustrate this, he quotes excerpts from a lecture delivered by IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Mordechai Gur in 1978, in which he compared a structured command system to a ballistic missile launched at a precisely-specified target, and along the way can overcome numerous malfunctions and interruptions, both internal and external, and still reach its original destination. The author reviews in this book the various developments in battlefield command from ancient Greece to the Vietnam War but does not miss the opportunity to add a comprehensive analysis of the command doctrine of IDF, by referring briefly to the Six-Day War (whose fiftieth anniversary will be noted next year) and more thoroughly to the events on the southern front during the first few days of the Yom-Kippur War.Īccording to van Creveld, a structured command system can set its own goal and continuously strive to accomplish it while being fully aware of the fact that problems will be encountered, but at the same time being confident that when such problems occur – it will be able to overcome them from within. For illustrative purposes, the book focuses on several major battles, including Napoleon's victory in Jena, von Moltke's operations in the Battle of Königgrätz, the Yom-Kippur War and the Vietnam War.
To illustrate the importance of commanding military power, the author begins with a quote from Napoleon Bonaparte, who said "It was not the legions that crossed the Rubicon, but (Julius) Caesar". The book "Command in War" focuses on the art of command. Only his book Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton has been published in Hebrew.
Most of van Creveld's books were published in English and are regarded as mandatory reading in the various colleges of the US military.
Kudos to the Doctrine & Training Division of IDF GHQ for initiating and assisting in the publishing of the Hebrew version of this book by Martin Van Creveld, professor emeritus at the Hebrew University and one of the most important current military historians worldwide.
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