I prefer his earlier work to his more recent stuff. In fact, the first Sci-Fi book I ever read was by ADF ("Midworld") and it ignited my interest in both Sci-Fi and astronomy! They can be juvenile, it's not hard SF, but his work from the 70's and early 80's is good for an enjoyable read. I prefer Alistair Reynolds or Stephen Baxter nowadays!

Anyway, The Man Who Used the Universe is one of his better works in my opinion.

"His true motives remain a mystery. A criminal mastermind who gave up his place at the head of his society's dark underworld to become a legitimate member of Evenwaith’s cities, Loo-Macklin begins reaching out to to powerful enemies - the aliens called the Nuel. While Loo-Macklin negotiates an illusory peace agreement and gains precious alien secrets in the process, questions remain: Is he after peace, power or pure evil? Time runs out for the answers, as enemy starships begin to amass...."

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I'm beginning to wish I hadn't mentioned this book now, as it isn't a military tactic at all, rather it is a giant political strategy. You see, Loo-Macklin does deep space exploration and discovers there is a strong warlike race that will likely discover either his people or the Nuel soon, and separately neither will be able to defeat them. So he engineers a giant scheme to bring us together with our current enemies in order that we will be able to cooperate against a foe that would destroy both of us.