Have you ever read War and Peace or Atlas Shrugged? If you have burned through those 1,000+ page books, you might have the cahonies to read The Department of Defense Law of War Manual.

Clocking in at 1,204 pages, the Department of Defense’s new war manual is designed to cover every conceivable combat situation U.S. soldiers may face overseas. Got a question about which weapon is authorized for use in your situation? Put your gun down and flip through to the right chapter. Unsure of how to distinguish between a lawful deception, ruse of war or breach of good faith? Allow stirring prose such as “principally perfidious conduct” to light your way.

It took 20 years to put this brick together, but it’s unlikely that anyone is ever going to read the damn thing. There is nothing practical about hauling a textbook into intense combat situations, even if that is where its guidance is most useful. One has to wonder how the wisdom imparted in this book will ever trickle down to the boots on the ground.

Moreover, most of the information is outdated. Drones are hardly mentioned at all in 1,204 pages of dry, lifeless text. You can buy a small drone at Best Buy, but you can’t read about them in the Pentagon war manual?

If you crack open the colossal tome and have any additional insights, let us know in the comments.