The Art of Military Innovation
Lessons from the Israel Defense Forces
Edward N Luttwak author Eitan Shamir author
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Harvard University Press
Publishing:28th Aug '26
£23.95
This title is due to be published on 28th August, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
“Rich with rare detail, much of it a result of the authors’ access to the IDF’s inner sanctums and their intimate knowledge of grand strategy and military history.” –Wall Street Journal
A world-leading military strategist and an IDF insider explain the improbable success of the Israeli armed forces.
When the Israel Defense Forces was established in 1948, the emerging Jewish state lacked sufficient weaponry and the capacity to produce it. Forced to make do, the IDF relied on a spirit of improvisation.
Today that same spirit has secured the IDF a place among the world’s most powerful militaries. In The Art of Military Innovation, Edward Luttwak and Eitan Shamir trace the roots of this astounding success. What sets the IDF apart, they argue, is its structure. From its inception, it has been the world’s only one-service military, with air, naval, and land forces collected in a single institutional body. This unique architecture, coupled with a youthful officer corps, encourages initiative from below. The result is a nimble organization inclined toward change.
The IDF has fostered significant technological advances, from the first wartime use of drones to the famed Iron Dome missile defense system, and now the first laser weapon, Iron Beam. Less-heralded innovations in training, logistics, and human resources have been equally important. Sharing rich insights and compelling stories, Luttwak and Shamir reveal just what makes the IDF so agile and effective.
Rich with rare detail, much of it a result of the authors’ access to the IDF’s inner sanctums and their intimate knowledge of grand strategy and military history. -- Tunku Varadarajan * Wall Street Journal *
This meticulously argued, carefully documented and engagingly written account…unquestionably constitutes the most authoritative description and analysis of innovation in the IDF produced to date, and it will undoubtedly remain a core work on the history of this organisation for the foreseeable future. -- David Rodman * Israel Affairs *
An incisive, original study of military innovation as it has developed over more than half a century at one of the world’s most redoubtable armed forces, the Israel Defense Forces. Bursting with pertinent information, it is also a pleasure to read. It would be hard to find authors more highly qualified than Luttwak and Shamir to write this book, which should appeal to anyone interested in the modern military. -- Martin van Creveld, author of The Transformation of War
Until now, no one has adequately explained why the Israel Defense Forces has had such a unique legacy of innovation. Luttwak and Shamir do so in a way that illuminates not only the IDF but also the broader challenges of creativity in war. -- Eliot A. Cohen, author of The Big Stick
Brilliantly reveals the secret to the success of the Israeli military: its capacity for innovation. Luttwak and Shamir, two distinguished historians who know the Israel Defense Forces inside and out, show how the receptiveness to invention and the courage to change course even in the heat of battle have made the IDF one of the world’s most effective armies. Every serving officer in the armed forces of NATO should read this indispensable work. -- Col. Douglas Macgregor, US Army, Ret., author of Margin of Victory
An important book for anyone interested in understanding how organizations innovate and improve. The saying ‘change or die’ is true for organizations in general, but in the case of the IDF, it is true in the most literal sense. Many armies throughout history have shown a great capacity for change when necessary, but Luttwak and Shamir show that for the Israeli military, innovation is a way of life. -- Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Chief of General Staff, Israel Defense Forces, Ret.
A compelling and important book. In wartime, armed forces must learn and apply what they learn in combat. In between wars, they must learn from the past and anticipate the future. The IDF is the perfect subject for drawing lessons important to developing military organizations that fight and win; Luttwak and Shamir are the perfect authors to illuminate those lessons. -- Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, US Army, Ret., author of Battlegrounds
ISBN: 9780674305014
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
288 pages