Cavalry

Bernhardi, Friedrich von, 1849-1930Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 410K words
Chapters: 42

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Cavalry by Friedrich von BernhardiAuthor: Bernhardi, Friedrich von, 1849-1930,Language: English, Class: UE: Military science: Cavalry, Armor, Release Date: Jan 6, 2019

Editor's review

This is a monograph on the cavalry arm, written in the early twentieth century. Friedrich von Bernhardi discusses the role and limitations of cavalry in modern warfare in terms of tactical employment, organization, and training principles. The book reflects thinking on the challenges traditional cavalry faced as firearms advanced, and has documentary value for understanding the evolution of military thought. As a public-domain e-book, its main barrier to entry lies in the language and military terminology, making it suitable for readers willing to look things up patiently. Its value lies not in offering currently usable operational plans, but in presenting how a military theorist of a particular era made judgments and built arguments; it can be read alongside historical accounts of cavalry in action around the First World War to appreciate the gap between theory and reality.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in modern military history and the evolution of military branches
Military enthusiasts studying the development of cavalry tactics and organization
Students needing source material on military thought from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century
Readers accustomed to English-language public-domain texts who are willing to look up terminology

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a practical tactical manual for modern cavalry or armored forces
Beginners who struggle with English and are unwilling to use a dictionary
General readers who want light storytelling and have no interest in military theory

Reading tips

Read the table of contents first to grasp the overall structure, then read in blocks by theme: tactics, organization, and training.
Keep a military terminology dictionary on hand and note down cavalry formations and branch-specific terms as you go.
Read alongside historical accounts of warfare around the First World War to observe differences between the author's judgments and actual combat.
After each chapter, summarize its core arguments in a few sentences to help map the line of reasoning.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a work of military theory?

It is a work of military theory discussing the employment and organization of the cavalry arm, not a narrative work. Read it as a theoretical text, focusing on the author's premises and conclusions rather than expecting plot development.

Do the cavalry views discussed in the book still have reference value today?

Its direct tactical conclusions are outdated as warfare has changed, but it retains value as a source on military thought. It helps readers understand how a traditional arm adapted as firearms developed, and how theorists anticipated changes on the battlefield.

How difficult is the English source text to read?

The text is an English public-domain book whose sentence patterns and military terminology bear the marks of its era, which may be demanding for general readers. Reading with a dictionary and background materials is recommended: first get the gist, then return to terminology and argumentative details.

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About the author

Bernhardi, Friedrich von, 1849-1930 Author

Friedrich von Bernhardi (1849–1930) was a German military writer and cavalry officer; public information about his life and career is limited. Three of his works are held in the collection, with Germany and the Next War, Cavalry in Future Wars, and Cavalry as representative titles. His writing centers on military strategy, the use of arms of service, and the prospects of war, and is especially known for discussing the role of cavalry in modern warfare, while also addressing war predictions marked by strong nationalism. Such works had a certain influence on early twentieth-century European military thought and public opinion, and are often used by later generations to examine prewar German strategic ideas and military debate.