In this book, the distinguished writer Edward Luttwak presents the grand strategy of the eastern Roman empire we know as Byzantine, which lasted more than twice as long as the more familiar western Roman empire, eight hundred years by the shortest definition. This extraordinary endurance is all the [...]

The coup is the most frequently attempted method of changing government, and the most successful. "Coup d'etat" outlines the mechanism of the coup and analyzes the conditions--political, military, and social, that gives rise to it. In doing so, the book sheds much light on societies where power does[...]

This is Edward Luttwak's third and arguably finest collection of essays. In a challenge to the intellectual backbone of those who write about peace as something one wishes into existence through mediation and good will, Luttwak's view of warfare is bracing: "An unpleasant truth, often overlooked, is[...]