The Military 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Leaders of All Time - Softcover

Michael L. Lanning

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806524251 ISBN 13: 9780806524252

Publisher: Citadel, 2002

Synopsis

THEY WERE CONQUERERS. LIBERATORS. HEROES. MADMEN.ALL CHANGED THE WORLD FOREVER ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE

This compelling study by Lt. Col. Michael Lee Lanning (U.S. Army, Ret.) lists the hundred most influential military leaders not by their victories, their combat prowess, or even their legacies, but by the lasting impact that their lives had upon the world, the lives they affected, and the historical significance of their actions in war. Warriors from every corner of the globe and every era are profiled, both glorious and notorious, modern and ancient, good and evil, including:

George Washington Attila the Hun Adolf Hitler Napoleon Hannibal Alexander the Great H. Norman Schwarzkopf Ghengis Khan

George S. Patton Sun Tzu Oliver CromwellILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOS AND PORTRAITS

Lt. Col. Michael Lee Lanning (U.S. Army, Ret.) served as public affairs officer for General H. Norman Schwarzkopf. He has spent more than twenty years on active duty in the U.S. Army. He is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, in which he served as an infantry platoon leader and a company commander. The author of twelve books, Lanning lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

About this title

From Library Journal

Retired Army colonel Lanning (Senseless Secrets, Carol Pub. Group, 1995) gives a new twist on who's who among military leaders. Lanning not only provides concise biographies of his selected 100 military leaders but also takes the bold step of ranking them from one to 100, in the order of their enduring influence on world history. The selected 100 span 15 centuries of warfare, from Attila the Hun (#15) to Norman Schwarzkopf (#49) and include both heroes and villains, innovators and heretics. Hitler is ranked rather high at #14, while Kim Il Sung is a lowly #86. As expected, George Washington is ranked first on the list; lone female, Joan of Arc, is #43. This is a grand list, filled with the famous and infamous and even some obscure men like Lennart Torstensson and Thomas Cochrane. As a clever approach to military history, this is recommended for the general reader.?Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (ret.), Harpswell, Me.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Retired infantryman Lanning, author of several books on Vietnam, now tackles a wider canvas--all of history--to survey and rank the 100 most influential military figures. His criteria for inclusion measure not only battlefield prowess but also the long-term consequences of the specific leader's actions for the world, by which criteria George Washington outstrips Napoleon, and both Saddam Hussein and Adolph Hitler find places on the list. The biographies themselves are definitely capsule but definitely sound, balanced, well researched, and clear. Every reader will find at least one nonfavorite among the top 100 and the 50 honorable mentions and at least one favorite left out. But as an intelligent soldier-historian's roster of the movers and shakers of warfare, this book itself ranks high and will find readers in virtually any collection that includes it. Roland Green

Edition details

• Publisher: Citadel
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806524251
• ISBN 13: 9780806524252
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384