Books | No Shortcuts to Knowledge

Dr. N. C. Asthana, IPS (Retd)

Even if we wish fervently, we cannot run away from wars. In the past 5,600 years, only 10 generations could enjoy uninterrupted peace in their lifetimes. The remaining 177 generations fought as many as 14,550 wars of various magnitudes. It proves that wars could not have been incidental, nor could they be dismissed as aberrations. There is something more fundamental to war than peaceniks would like to admit.

History stands witness; men’s greatest feats of courage and invention have taken place when they were at war. The human race must therefore learn to appreciate the proper function of war. This is as much an intellectual exercise as it is a military one.

Great military leaders have had one important thing in common; they were all superior thinkers. It is only a person equipped with a sound knowledge of military science and history who can properly apply the skills of analysis, interpretation, inference, and evaluation to strategic, operational, and tactical problems of all kinds.

There are no shortcuts to knowledge and good, old-fashioned reading is still the most reliable way of acquiring it. Some of the books I cherish and recommend to