Thought prior to reading War and Peace

Great armies are brought into contact through grand vision and by great skill in strategy, tactics, manoeuvre and positioning until, finally, all rests upon the bravery and conduct of individuals who are prepared to take the lives of other combatants and lay down their own, when required, to claim the day and seize the glory and plunder that comes with it - but only the glory endures. Such is the madness of humanity.