Category Archives: General

April 13, 2011

Rapporteur’s Report: The Armada

Draupadi

The initial discussion of The Armada focuses on Garrett Mattingly’s language and style, and how it differs greatly from the other historical accounts assigned to the class. Professor Mead remarks that Mattingly is funny and does great things with language, … Continue reading →

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April 7, 2011

Mattingly’s Masterpiece

Max Segal

When I told my Uncle that I was reading Garrett Mattingly’s The Armada, he said, “Do you know what the biggest mistake of the Spanish Armada was? They left port!” He meant it as a joke, but the assertion that … Continue reading →

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February 11, 2011

Imaginative Daring: Changes in Strategy and Tactics

Tordenskjold

In The Peloponnesian War Donald Kagan describes the Athenian general Demosthenes and his plan to seize the Spartan island of Pylos as “imaginative daring.” It was critical moment that typifies the sort of unorthodox strategy and tactics that were produced … Continue reading →

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February 8, 2011

An Introduction and a Welcome

Walter Russell Mead

Welcome to our newest feature at Via Meadia and The American Interest: the StratBlog. At Bard College I’m teaching a modified version of the Yale Grand Strategy curriculum developed by John Gaddis, Charles Hill and Paul Kennedy to a group … Continue reading →

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