"How a strategist's ideas, catastrophically ignored in 1914, shaped Britain's success in the Second World War and beyond. Lawyer, civilian and Liberal, Julian Corbett (1854-1922) brought a new level of logic, advocacy and intellectual precision to the development of national strategy to meet the emerging threat of German militarism, and enable the British Empire to evolve into a Commonwealth of nations. Corbett skillfully integrated classical strategic theory, British history and emerging trends in technology, geopolitics and conflict to prepare the British state for war. He emphasised that strategy is a national construct, rather than a set of universal principles, and recognised the importance of domestic social reform. Working with Admiral Lord Fisher, Corbett replaced the naval strategy theory of Alfred Thayer Mahan with a unique, 'British way of war'. Corbett's concept of maritime strategy dominated by the control of global communications and economic war, survived the debacle of 1914-18, when Britain adopted the German 'way of war' at unprecedented cost in lives and resources. It was taken up again in the Second World War, and shaped Churchill's conduct of the conflict from the Fall of France to D-Day. And as Andrew Lambert shows, Corbett's ideas continue to influence British strategic thinking."--Provided by the publisher.