The phrase "trinity of war" represents the intimate cooperation of the government, the military, and, most importantly, the people of the nation in the context of military action. With this cooperation, each member of this trinity better understands the issues prior to a fully committed war. Without this close cooperation, history has shown, success is highly unlikely.
Limited War delves into the criteria that determines whether a war is necessary and, once a decision is made to go to war, what is needed from the government, the military, and the people in order to win. The book revisits the mistakes and successes of six wars-the American War of Independence, War of 1812, Anglo-Irish War, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Iraq War-and discusses how the processes for either entering or avoiding war should change.

Thomas B. Rogers is a military historian who spent his professional career with the United States Army, where he served on active duty for three years in Vietnam and Germany, and then a total of thirty-three years on military posts across the United States, Germany, and Belgium as an Army civilian.Tom's education includes degrees in national security and strategic studies from the US Naval War College; education administration and counseling from Boston University; and a bachelor's degree in political science and history from California State University, Long Beach.His first professional publication was in The Flinders Journal of History and Politics, and he has written numerous papers on limited wars.