German is a language well suited for building up seriously run-on sentences, and I understand during the 1800s and thereabouts it was regarded as virtually de rigeur for "highbrow" texts to have them spill over at least one page. That particular brand of eloquence is AFAIK a considerable additional hurdle for most people delving into the writings of the major German-speaking thinkers of the period. Von Clausewitz seems to be from the light and easy end.