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Carl von Clausewitz joined the Prussian army at the age of twelve, was taken prisoner by the French in 1806, resigned his commission in 1812 rather than march with Napoleon into Russia, and watched the Battle of Borodino as an officer in the Russian army. In 1815 he was chief of staff of a Prussian corps at Ligny and Wavre. He spent his last years running the war college in Berlin and writing a book he never finished. When he died of cholera in Breslau in November 1831, his wife Marie published his papers in ten volumes; the first three were On War, still read in staff colleges and political science courses today. This guide covers his 7 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 7 key books · 1832–1992 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Carl von Clausewitz published almost nothing in his lifetime. His books appeared after his death as his collected works (1832–37), edited by his widow Marie: On War (1832), plus campaign studies of Napoleon in Italy in 1796, the 1799 campaign, Russia in 1812 and Waterloo in 1815. Start with On War, and read Book One first: it holds his best-known ideas, from war as a continuation of policy to friction.
Where to Start with Carl von Clausewitz
If you want the theory that made his name
→ On War (1832) — Book One, chapters 1 to 7, before the rest.
If you want the short version first
→ Principles of War (1834) — a summary he wrote in 1812 for the Crown Prince.
If you want military history with an eyewitness
→ The Campaign of 1812 in Russia (1835) — the 1812 invasion of Russia, from the Russian side.
If you want Waterloo argued from both sides
→ On Waterloo (1835) — his study of 1815 with Wellington’s reply.
7 Carl von Clausewitz Books, in Order
On War
His theory of war in eight books, published by Marie von Clausewitz as the first three volumes of his collected works (1832–34). In a note of 1827 he called the manuscript “a mass which is still in a manner without form” and planned to revise it; he had reworked only the first chapter when he died. J.J. Graham translated it into English in 1873; the 1976 translation by Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton, revised 1984) is the standard English edition.
Napoleon’s 1796 Italian Campaign
Bonaparte’s first command, in which he led the French army in Italy against larger Austrian and Sardinian forces. Clausewitz combines the battle narrative, from Montenotte onwards, with his judgements of the commanders on both sides. Volume 4 of the collected works; Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle translated it for the University Press of Kansas in 2018.
Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant
While Bonaparte was in Egypt, the armies of the Second Coalition under Archduke Charles of Austria and the Russian marshal Suvorov won back much of what France had taken. Clausewitz uses the campaign to test how far the new French way of war could go. It filled volumes 5 and 6 of the collected works (1833–34); Murray and Pringle translated it in two volumes (2021), the second titled The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns.
Principles of War
A short summary of his ideas on tactics and strategy, written in 1812 for the Prussian Crown Prince, whom he was tutoring, just before he left for Russian service. It was first printed in 1834 as an appendix to the third volume of On War; Hans Gatzke’s English translation appeared in 1942.
The Campaign of 1812 in Russia
Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, by a Prussian officer who served on the Russian side, was at Smolensk and Borodino, and helped bring about the Convention of Tauroggen, which took the Prussian corps out of the war against Russia. Volume 7 of the collected works (1835). An anonymous English translation, made in the circle of the Duke of Wellington, appeared in London in 1843.
On Waterloo
His strategic study of the whole 1815 campaign, including Ligny and Wavre, where he served as chief of staff of the Prussian III Corps. It appeared in 1835 as volume 8 of the collected works. The 2010 English edition by Christopher Bassford, Daniel Moran and Gregory Pedlow adds Wellington’s battle report, Clausewitz’s letters to Marie after the battle, and the memorandum Wellington wrote in 1842 in reply.
Historical and Political Writings
Clausewitz outside the theory of war: his writing on Prussia’s collapse in 1806, on the politics of his time and on the 1812 campaign, edited and translated by Peter Paret and Daniel Moran for Princeton University Press. It is the best English route into his history and political essays, much of which was not published in his lifetime.
In What Order to Read Carl von Clausewitz
Clausewitz wrote history to test his theory, so the two halves of his work explain each other, but nothing has to be read in sequence. Most readers begin and end with On War. Read Book One first, then Books Two, Three and Eight; Books Four to Seven go into engagements, defence and attack in detail and can wait.
If On War feels too long, start with Principles of War, which is short. After that, the campaign studies show his ideas applied to real battles: 1796 for Bonaparte at his most daring, 1812 for what Clausewitz saw himself, and On Waterloo for the argument it provoked with Wellington.
A reading path
1. Principles of War (1834)
2. On War, Book One (1832)
3. The Campaign of 1812 in Russia (1835)
4. On Waterloo (1835)
5. On War, Books Two to Eight (1832–34)
Everything Else Carl von Clausewitz Wrote
Beyond the 7 key books: 5 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Other posthumous writings
4
4 books · 1832–1888
- 1832On the Life and Character of Scharnhorstan essay on his mentor, in a historical-political journal
- 1834Sketch of a Plan for Tacticsnotes printed as an appendix to the third volume of On War
- 1837Strategic Critique of Several Campaignsvolumes 9 and 10 of the collected works, on earlier wars
- 1888Notes on Prussia in Her Great Catastropheon the defeat of 1806, first printed in 1888
Modern English selections
1
1 book · 1984
- 1984Two Letters on Strategytwo letters of 1827, translated by Peter Paret and Daniel Moran
The years · 1780–1976
Quick facts about Carl von Clausewitz
- Known for
- Clausewitz is known for arguing that war is a continuation of politics by other means, and for describing war as a contest shaped by chance, emotion and “friction” rather than by fixed rules.
- 1780
- Born in Burg near Magdeburg
- 1832
- On War
- 1976
- Howard and Paret’s English translation
- Born
- 1 June 1780, Burg bei Magdeburg, Prussia
- Died
- 16 November 1831, Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), of cholera
- Army
- Prussian army from 1792; Russian service 1812–1814; back in Prussian service in 1815
- Mentor
- Gerhard von Scharnhorst, at the Berlin war college, 1801–1803
- Married
- Countess Marie von Brühl, in 1810; she edited his collected works
- Post
- Director of the war college in Berlin, 1818–1830
- Collected works
- 10 volumes, 1832–1837, all published after his death
The red mark is 1832: the first volume of On War, published the year after his death.
How Carl von Clausewitz Writes: Theory Tested Against History
Clausewitz argues in a dialectic. He starts with “absolute war”, an abstract extreme in which each side escalates without limit, then shows why real wars fall short of it: politics sets the aim, and chance, fatigue and bad information get in the way. His most quoted line, that war is a continuation of policy by other means, belongs to that argument, which is why it is often quoted out of context.
He thinks in concrete images rather than rules. “Friction” is everything that makes the simple difficult in the field; the “fog” of uncertain information is another. Behind the theory sits a large body of history: most of his collected works are campaign studies, from Bonaparte in Italy in 1796 to Waterloo, two of which he saw at first hand.
On War is also unfinished, and reads that way. Chapters repeat, contradict and qualify one another, and in 1827 he wrote that he meant to revise the whole book. Readers who want a shorter, older counterpart can compare him with Sun Tzu; see Authors like Sun Tzu.
Frequently asked questions about Carl von Clausewitz’s books
How many books has Carl von Clausewitz written?
He published almost nothing under his name while he was alive. After his death his widow Marie published his collected works in 10 volumes (1832–1837): On War took the first three, and most of the rest were campaign studies. This page lists 7 key books in English and 5 further writings.
What are Carl von Clausewitz’s books in order?
On War (1832), Napoleon’s 1796 Italian Campaign (1833), the 1799 campaign in Italy and Switzerland (1833, in English as Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant), Principles of War (1834), The Campaign of 1812 in Russia (1835), the 1815 campaign (1835, in English as On Waterloo) and Historical and Political Writings (1992, a modern English selection).
Where should I start with Carl von Clausewitz?
On War, Book One, which sets out his key ideas in seven chapters. If you want something shorter first, Principles of War is the summary he wrote in 1812 for the Prussian Crown Prince.
What is Carl von Clausewitz’s most famous book?
On War (Vom Kriege), published in 1832–34. It contains his best-known statement, that war is a continuation of policy by other means.
Did Clausewitz finish On War?
No. In a note dated 1827 he described the manuscript as still without form and said he would revise it; he had finished revising only the first chapter of Book One when he died in 1831. Marie von Clausewitz published it as he left it, with help from friends of his.
Which translation of On War should I read?
The 1976 translation by Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton University Press, revised 1984) is the standard English edition and includes essays by Paret, Howard and Bernard Brodie. J.J. Graham’s 1873 translation is older and is free online.
What does “war is the continuation of policy by other means” mean?
That war serves a political purpose and should stay under political direction, rather than following a logic of its own. In the German, Politik covers both policy and politics, and the line is one step in a longer argument, so it is easy to quote too narrowly.
Was Clausewitz to blame for the First World War?
Some critics have said so. B.H. Liddell Hart called him the “Mahdi of Mass” and blamed him and his followers for the slaughter of 1914–18; John Keegan, in A History of Warfare (1993), called him “the ideological father of the First World War”. Scholars such as Christopher Bassford argue that both misread him, taking his abstract idea of absolute war for a recommendation.
When did Carl von Clausewitz die?
On 16 November 1831 in Breslau, of cholera, after serving as chief of staff of the Prussian army sent to the Polish border during the uprising of 1830–31. He was 51.
Footnotes
- Clausewitz, Carl von — Neue Deutsche Biographie
- Carl von Clausewitz — New World Encyclopedia
- Clausewitz texts in English — ClausewitzStudies.org
- On Waterloo: Clausewitz, Wellington, and the Campaign of 1815 — ClausewitzStudies.org
- Clausewitz in English, ch. 15 (Liddell Hart) — Christopher Bassford
- Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant — StrategyPage review
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Everything is very simple in war, but the simplest thing is difficult.”
— Carl von Clausewitz, On War (1832), Book 1, chapter 7, translated by J.J. Graham
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