Reflections on History – The Peloponnesian War and Strategy

“History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity” – Who says so? Why many people, but in this case Professor John L Gaddis, in his 2018 book, On Grand Strategy, who taught strategy at the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island and now teaches strategy at Yale. In this book he explains how critical the study of history is for the understanding and practice of constructing grand strategy, although in this quotation he does not, to my mind, go far enough. And, just to be c…