Politics and European Conflict from Philip II to Hitler

• Politics and European Conflict from Philip II to Hitler
  David Kaiser - I.B. Tauris, 1990 - 435 pp. - £29.95

This is a bold, vigorous and well-organised study which attacks the Clausewitzian approach to war and politics on two fronts. First, Professor Kaiser challenges the conventional view that links each era of general European war to the ambitions of one particular power. He argues instead that such wars normally reflect a common set of European developments among all the major powers. Even if one power bears the prime responsibility for causing a conflict the conduct of all the belligerents usually becomes almost indistinguishable. In this mode of analysis the issue of winners and losers becomes almost irrelevant; indeed Kaiser is sceptical throughout about the benefits of victory and even about the feasibility of a decisive outcome.