Summary of John Lewis Gaddis's On Grand Strategy

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 The Persian king Xerxes had a dream that his armies would be defeated by the Greeks. His adviser and uncle Artabanus told him not to worry, because if he did not attack Greece, he would be punished by being humiliated again.

#2 Xerxes was the king of Persia, and he wanted to conquer Greece. He prayed to the sun for the strength to conquer not just Greece, but all of Europe. He ordered his priests to burn incense.

#3 The distinction between hedgehogs and foxes is simple but not frivolous: it offers a point of view from which to look and compare, a starting point for genuine investigation. It reflects one of the deepest differences between writers and thinkers, and perhaps human beings in general.

#4 Tolstoy’s essay was a response to Berlin’s theory of foxes and hedgehogs, which he had applied to the Russian Revolution. Berlin had stumbled upon two of the best ways to become intellectually indelible: be Delphic, and turn your ideas into animals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669380696

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Insights on John Lewis Gaddis's On Grand Strategy

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Persian king Xerxes had a dream that his armies would be defeated by the Greeks. His adviser and uncle Artabanus told him not to worry, because if he did not attack Greece, he would be punished by being humiliated again.

#2

Xerxes was the king of Persia, and he wanted to conquer Greece. He prayed to the sun for the strength to conquer not just Greece, but all of Europe. He ordered his priests to burn incense.

#3

The distinction between hedgehogs and foxes is simple but not frivolous: it offers a point of view from which to look and compare, a starting point for genuine investigation. It reflects one of the deepest differences between writers and thinkers, and perhaps human beings in general.

#4

Tolstoy’s essay was a response to Berlin’s theory of foxes and hedgehogs, which he had applied to the Russian Revolution. Berlin had stumbled upon two of the best ways to become intellectually indelible: be Delphic, and turn your ideas into animals.

#5

Herodotus, the Greek historian, wrote about Artabanus and Xerxes in the 480s to the 420s B. C. E. He stated that Artabanus wanted to dismantle the bridges and send everyone back home, but Xerxes wanted to keep going and conquer everything.

#6

The most rigorous study ever done on why some people get the future right and others don’t found that self-identification as foxes or hedgehogs when shown Berlin’s definitions of those terms made all the difference in predicting the future.

#7

The test of a good theory is its ability to explain the past, as only if it does can we trust what it may tell us about the future. Herodotus’s account of the Persian invasion of Greece demonstrates that Tetlock’s findings hold up across time.

#8

The Battle of Plataea was the final defeat of the Persian army, and it was left to a playwright to warn Xerxes about the futility of trying to conquer the Greeks.

#9

Xerxes’ invasion of Greece was an early example of hedgehog-like behavior. Being King of Kings was a very big thing, and Xerxes thought he could conquer Europe if he could just gather