GENERALS THE BEST AND THE WORST

In this engrossing and inclusive work, historian Gerald Suster explores the nobility and folly of war through the ages by examining the work of the men and women whose direction of battle has significantly altered the course of history.

Ranging from Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, Ghengis Khan and Joan of Arc, through the attack of the Spanish Armada, Napoleon, Nelson and Wellington, the trenches of the First World War and the blitzkreig of the Second, and leading up to the wars in Vietnam, the Falklands and the Gulf, Suster places each military leader in the context of their own time, detailing their psychological make-up, the circumstances of the conflict and analyzing the decisions they made that were to prove crucial turning points in battle.

With this perceptive study of the moments when the fates of nations and empires were sealed, Suster illustrates the astonishing application of Intelligence of some generals and the amazing incompetence of others.Generals: The Best and Worst Military commanders brings to life the magic of history, the squalor of ineptitude and the art of winning and losing.

This book is concerned with the historical background from several military time periods. Suster (Hitler Black Magic, Assoc. Pubs. Group, 1996) hopes to describe the background concerned with each event?thus allowing the reader to gain an insight into each general's mind. Unfortunately, the book turns out to be a basic history of various armed conflicts instead of an insightful inquiry into the commanders involved. The author describes each conflict in the broadest terms?with only a few comments regarding the actions of the general in question. A more appropriate subtitle might have been "A History of Armed Conflict." There is no serious discussion of any one general's traits?positive or negative. Most of the generals have very different views on such matters as the use of their staffs, but such discussions are lacking here. Recommended only for large general public library collections.?Mark E. Ellis, Albany State Univ., GA
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