THE CUNNING WINS! - An Anthology of Military Deception

What does military deception consist of? Is it indispensable for victory, as Sun Tzu claims, or merely incidental, as Clausewitz suggests? How has it been used throughout the centuries? What is the situation today? With what results? Does one have the right to deceive one's adversary in all circumstances and by all means? Are there rules, a doctrine? Does deception form part of French military culture? What does "déception" ultimately bring — that anglicism meaning "deception" in a soldier's vocabulary, as opposed to "disappointment", "setback" or "let-down" under a civilian pen?

So many questions this book will pretend to answer… pretend only, because in reality the fog of war will always exist. Every war is the realm of lies, and whether one calls it disinformation, poisoning or psychological warfare, decoy, deception or dupery, simulation or concealment, most people generally accept it as right to lie for one's country.

The author, a Saint-Cyr graduate of the "Vercors" class (1960–1962), General Patrick Manificat served in several parachute units. In addition to special operations with the 1st RPIMa and clandestine operations with the 11th Choc, he participated in numerous intelligence-gathering operations behind the Iron Curtain within the French Military Liaison Mission at Potsdam, to which he was attached for three years. After serving as a professor at the École Supérieure de Guerre and as an auditor at the Institut des Hautes Études de Défense Nationale, he headed the Army Intelligence Bureau and the Research sub-directorate of the Directorate of Military Intelligence. He ended his career at the head of the École Nationale des Sous-officiers d'Active de Saint-Maixent.