Generals: Ten British Commanders Who Shaped the World

From the bestselling author of "Rifles", the remarkable lives - and battles - of ten of Britain's greatest generals. Mark Urban tells the story of ten exceptional soldiers who left their mark on Britain and the world. Some - including Wellington, Kitchener and Montgomery - are names etched in the national mythology. Others are more obscure figures whose achievements or failures may have had consequences quite different to those they had intended: the incompetence of one British General led to the creation of the United States of America, the ideas of another to the invention of Blitzkreig. All ten of these generals revealed either a brilliant ability or a fatal flaw. While one became Prime Minister, another was beheaded. Success or failure depended largely on their ability to work within Britain's Parliamentary democracy - and against tyrants, despots and emperors who were often free to act alone.