Perhaps the single most obvious and widely agreed feature of war, throughout its long history, has been its character as a public and collective enterprise, arraying a whole people against a foreign foe. In the face of such an emergency, war has called typically for reserves of collective discipline and self-sacrifice beyond those required in ordinary times, thereby making it an exercise in social solidarity of the highest order. It is accordingly a great error to think of war primarily in terms of turbulence, confusion and anarchy. These factors are often present, to be sure, sometimes in very generous measure. But warfare, throughout recorded history at least, has also called for careful planning, meticulous preparation of many kinds – psychological, spiritual, logistical and so forth – as well as rational execution. That is to say, it has always been an activity that may be described, very loosely and with pardonable anachronism, as scientific. If the most obvious skills called for are those of the hardy and valiant warrior, it should not be forgotten that other, and quieter, activities also make important contributions to military victory.