Frederick the Great (aka ‘der alte Fritz’)

This bit of obviated profundity is a direct quote (as relevant today as in days of yore) from the man often admired as one of the greatest tactical geniuses of all time (go figure), of whom the Austrian co-ruler Emperor Joseph II (aka Holy Roman Emperor, 1765-1790) wrote: “When the King of Prussia speaks on problems connected with the art of war, which he has studied intensively and on which he has read every conceivable book, then everything is taut, solid and uncommonly instructive. There are no circumlocutions, he gives factual and historical proof of the assertions he makes, for he is well versed in history… A genius and a man who talks admirably. But everything he says betrays the knave.”

Image: Bodies of Confederate soldiers, killed on 1 July 1863, collected near the McPherson woods, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; photographer: Timothy H. O’Sullivan, (1840-1882).