Summary of John Lewis Gaddis's On Grand Strategy

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.

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Rafbók: 1 april 2022