Review by Choice Review
Windsor's final book was edited by two of his junior colleagues. It is a remarkable and concentrated analysis of the origin and significance of "strategy" during the Cold War. More particularly, Windsor argues that during the nuclear age--the age of superpowers capable of ecumenic annihilation--strategy became detached from moral, legal, and political limitations. It was no longer subordinate to the proper conduct of war, understood as a moral, legal or political enterprise, but, on the contrary, was designed explicitly to avoid war. According to Windsor, the autonomy of strategy came to dominate not just nuclear deterrence but the creation of alliances, arms control, and the growth of what are now called asymmetric threats, including terrorism practiced by NGOs. Windsor weaves together conventional information on the history of strategy along with some hardheaded "realism" in the area of international relations and a profound appreciation of the long-term ability of philosophers to provide meaning to the course of events. This is a splendidly written book, full of thought-provoking insights. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers, lower-division undergraduates through researchers and faculty. B. Cooper University of Calgary
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
