BOOKS : THE BRAIN OF AN ARMY.

This book, a recent purchase,  is a reprint of a 1913 publication which was itself a reprint of an 1895 essay. The essence of the book is a layman's guide to the Prussian/German General Staff at a time when the German army was considered the most professional in the world and the British government was in the midst of one of its periodic reviews of the organisation of the Army.

The book gives a large amount of interesting information on Prussian/German military thinking and the basic organisation of the army. Also included are some fascinating sections on the issues that face a general during a campaign. Others may not share my view but I often find myself surprised by the sophistication of military thinking in the Victorian era. It is easy to assume that the people of the past, without the benefit of modern technology, science or administrative techniques were simplistic in their views on many issues especially things military. That is just not the case. In fact there were very many exceedingly clever people around in the past and despite our idea that we are somehow more advanced, in fact we are different only in our attitudes to the world around us. Our only advantage is a greater understanding of science, our disadvantage is a reduction in the concept of serving the nation.

With that thought, this is a very interesting book which teaches much about the Prussian/German General Staff and the military machine it served.