The Human History of War Fighting Distilled into One Word

Maybe no one has a more important body of work in the realm of military strategy and history than B.H. Liddell Hart. His renowned text, Strategy, combs through classic conflicts from Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Wars through World War II.

I’ll save you tons of reading and cut to his most universal and profound point.

Across the volumes of history, Hart says, “the principles of war… can be condensed into a single word – ‘concentration.’”

Now, surely the word implies quite a bit from concentration as focus on mission, purpose, and aim, but also concentration of resources, maneuvered, and planning campaigns. In any case, “concentration” invites less of the what and more of the how. 

You might not be at war, but surely you’re deploying some essence of concentration, albeit effectively or ineffectively. Evaluate and adjust.