The Tactical Notebook
A quick introduction
The Tactical Notebook tells tales of ‘armies that are, armies that were, and armies that might have been’. That is, we publish articles and decision games about military organizations, events, practices, and ideas. While the majority of these posts deal with European and American armies of the modern era, The Tactical Notebook also publishes occasional pieces about other times, places, and institutions.
As its name suggests, The Tactical Notebook continues the work done by the print publication of the same name of the 1990s. Indeed, many of the articles in this blog are updated versions of pieces that originally appeared in the earlier incarnation of the magazine. As was the case with the analog Tactical Notebook, the articles that make up this blog are heavy on facts and light on opinion. Some, indeed, are little more than lists of various kinds, while others are translations of material found in foreign-language books and archives.
As of December pf 2025, more than thirteen hundred articles have appeared in the pages (so to speak) of The Tactical Notebook. With that in mind, the following article provides some approaches to navigating the site.
For more on the philosophy behind the Tactical Notebook, please see:
For information about subscribing, please see
