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THE FRAMEWORK OF BATTLE. By Lieutenant Colonel John G. Burr, USA, Ret. New York: J. B. Lippincott Company. 254 pps. $3.00.
THIS book is designed to be a layman's guide to the techniques of warfare, but it contains much that is worth the study of all military officers who have not already devoted a great deal of time to the study of the subject. It attempts to reduce the subject matter to simple language, it presents the nine basic principles of strategy in a simple way and illustrates them by historical examples that are easily understood-and for the reader to enjoy himself while so doing. Unexpected and fascinating things happen in battles; therefore, the presentation of brief accounts are naturally interesting. The author further tries to enable the layman, by careful study of his book, to become his own "expert" so that he can interpret the daily war news and not be entirely dependent on commentators who are, usually, nothing but rank amateurs.
Near the beginning of the book, he explains the language of military command and then presents the foundations of strategy in an interesting manner by giving examples, illustrating its basic underlying factors. The first and most important point he takes into consideration is that of lines of communication which are the most vulnerable...