War has been the most extensive human preoccupation ever since the emergence of the first enlightened civilization. Notwithstanding the preceding, it has remained one of the least researched social domains. One of the significant reasons was the exclusive control of war by authoritarian heads of the states, who were generally averse to criticism. Besides, human life did not hold any value for them. It was only after the Napolean wars that military scholars of Europe started seriously studying the war and came up with their dissertations. For the better part, before WWI, the doctrines of Clausewitz and Jomini influenced most of the European and New World nations. Surprisingly, no one stressed the dynamic nature of the art of war and the need to ensure the currency of the theory/philosophy. Only after the horrifying end of WWI, in which close to 10 million soldiers laid down their life, primarily due to lack of a helpful military doctrine, did the world realise that there was something seriously wrong with how the war was conducted.

While Russia and Germany, as defeated nations, quickly accepted the reality and started working to fathom the causes, the Allied decided to gloat over their victories and allowed the feeling “all is well” to prevail. The consequence was the invention of the operation level of war that bridged the gap between Strategy and tactics by the Russians. They inferred tactical battles conducted in isolation alone could not produce strategic results. It was essential to aggregate the outcome of tactical battles to attain strategic goals. The employment of large-sized field formations (corps, group of corps/armies, theatre) in the war required coordination to achieve synergy of all war resources available to the commander in time, space, and objective.

The book deals with all aspects of operational art.

About the Author: After graduating from NDA and IMA, Brigadier Professor Jasbir Singh Nagra was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery in 1959. During his over 33 years of service in the Indian Army, he held various command, staff and faculty positions. In 1972, he graduated with honours from Frunze Military Academy, Moscow (erstwhile the USSR). Besides, he holds the degrees of MSc (Defence Studies) and MBA (Gold Medalist).

He participated in the India-China War of 1962 and the India-Pakistan War of 1965. After being transferred to 18 Sikh in 1974, he served with the Battalion in Nagaland for over two years and, later, commanded it. For over three years, he served as a diplomat in Moscow and later commanded an infantry and mountain brigade. Besides, he served as a BGS (Ops) of a Command, as Head of Logistics in the War College, and as Officiating Head of the Strategy and Operational Art Department in the Army Training Command. He has the distinction of serving as faculty in War College, Defence Services Staff College and School of Artillery.

After retirement, he served as a Managing Director of a joint sector company for six years and then as Director Principal of a Management Institute for eight years. He has authored two books on Tibet to educate the Indian masses about the reality of Tibet.

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: White Falcon Publishing; 1 edition (2024)
• Author: Jasbir Singh Nagra
• ISBN-13: 9798892221405
• Product Dimensions:  6 x 9 Inches

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