In Margin of Victory Douglas Macgregor tells the riveting stories of
five military battles of the twentieth century, each one a turning point
in history. Beginning with the British Expeditionary force holding the
line at the Battle of Mons in 1914 and concluding with the Battle of
Easting in 1991 during Desert Storm, Margin of Victory teases out a
connection between these battles and teaches its readers an important
lesson about how future battles can be won. Emphasizing military
strategy, force design, and modernization, Macgregor links each of these
seemingly isolated battles thematically. At the core of his analysis,
the author reminds the reader that to be successful, military action
must always be congruent with national culture, geography, and
scientific-industrial capacity. He theorizes that strategy and
geopolitics are ultimately more influential than ideology. Macgregor
stresses that if nation-states want to be successful, they must accept
the need for and the inevitability of change. The five warfighting
dramas in this book, rendered in vivid detail by lively prose, offer
many lessons on the tactical, operational, and strategic levels of war.