Yo, Podrock!
I realy think Kahn's books were an attempt to refute the work of Barbara Tuchman, who argued the now fashionable opinion that once a war gets rolling all bets are off. This idea has always been anathema to conservatives that feel threatened by any restraint that might be called for prior to getting involved in a military adventure, and liberals who seem to look for any excuse they can find to avoid getting into one. Fortunately, the rest of us are somewhere in between, and it is through education that we can get the information needed to make the right choices. It appears both you and I were well served by our teachers, here is what I remember of these books.