The reconstruction of the past is not an end in itself … It has a present purpose. What the living seek from a knowledge of the past is not merely the satisfaction of a thirst for knowledge, but an enrichment of the spirit or a lesson. —Friedrich Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations For much of my career as a military analyst and strategic thinker I have been preoccupied with the role that history plays in enhancing an understanding of the conduct of war both in the present and the future. My preoccupation has its origins in my youth when, during the Rhodesian…