About the book
B. H. Liddell Hart offers a concise and readable treatment of the theory of history, a subject on which philosophers and historiologists have already written a great deal.
Morgan Housel said it shows why people keep making the same mistakes as those before them, and Shane Parrish took from it that human nature barely changes while our leverage to act on it is what changes. Ryan Holiday called Liddell Hart the finest writer on military history and strategy.
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This book has 3 recommendations
Ryan Holiday (Founder/Brass Check)
These are two very short books but will help you understand the topics more than thousands of pages on the same topic by countless other writers. In my view, Hart is unquestionably the best writer on military strategy and history. Better than von Clausewitz, that’s for sure (who for all the talk is basically useless unless you are planning on fighting Napoleon). His theories on the indirect approach is life changing, whether you’re struggling with a business or just office politics. I can’t say much more than read these books. It’s a must.
Shane Parrish (Founder/FarnamStreet)
The wisdom in this short book goes well beyond the few hours it takes to read. The author, B. H. Liddell Hart was a British Soldier and military historian. Two ideas that come out of this book are worth reinforcing. First, human nature changes slowly, if at all. What changes is the leverage we have to carry out that nature. Second, is that we study too narrowly and thus lose the context and significance of what we're working on.
Why Don’t We Learn From History? shows why people keep screwing up after others before them did the same thing.
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