For Frederick the Great, the prescription for warfare was simple: kurz und vives (""short and lively"") - wars that relied upon swift, powerful, and decisive military operations. Robert Citino takes us on a dramatic march through Prussian and German military history to show how that primal theme played out time and time again.

"Takes the reader on a sweeping march through 300 years of Prussian/German military history and operational thought as Citino explains the 'why' of the German style of waging operational war. He does an exceptional job explaining the operational conduct of the German army during both world wars and how its style of fighting eventually contributed to the defeat of the Third Reich." - Armor "This book combines colossal scholarship with massively entertaining material. It is all here: the great captains from Frederick the Great to Erich von Manstein, the great theorists and planners from Clausewitz and Moltke to Schlieffen, Seeckt, and Guderian, the pivotal battles that shaped European history, and a humanist's splendid recreation at every turn of the ambiance - sometimes delightful, sometimes odious - of the German army and Central Europe." - Geoffrey Wawro, author of The Franco-Prussian War "Citino is one of the most insightful historians of operational warfare working today, and his gifts for narrative and puckish myth-busting do not fail him here. This is a fascinating and important book that challenges many conventional ideas and suggests others that are worthy of debate and future study." - Journal of Military History"