The Mask Of Command - A Study Of Generalship

KEEGAN, John

ISBN 10: 0712665269 / ISBN 13: 9780712665261

Published by U.K / Pimlico, 1999

About this Item

Most studies of generalship have focused on individual character and behaviour. While these are not neglected in this remarkable book, its central argument is that, like warfare itself, generalship is a cultural enterprise, providing a key to understanding a particular era or place, as much as it is an exercise in power or military skill. Through portraits of four generals - archetypal hero Alexander the Great, anti-hero Wellington, the unheroic Ulysses S. Grant and the false heroic of Hitler - John Keegan propounds the view of heroism in warfare as inextricably linked with the political imperative of the age and place. He demonstrates how the role of the general alters with the ethos of the society that creates him and concludes that there is no place for heroism in a nuclear world. Illustrated with black&white photos & maps. A 3rd edition paperback in fine condition. (366 pages & 16 pages of photography). Originally published in 1987.

Seller Inventory # 4916

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Mask Of Command - A Study Of Generalship
• Publisher: U.K / Pimlico
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0712665269
• ISBN 13: 9780712665261
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • BIOGRAPHY
  • MILITARY HISTORY
  • MILITARY ASSORTED

About this title

Synopsis

Most studies of generalship have focused on individual character and behaviour. While these are not neglected in this remarkable book, its central argument is that, like warfare itself, generalship is a cultural enterprise, providing a key to understanding a particular era or place, as much as it is an exercise in power or military skill.

Through portraits of four generals – archetypal hero Alexander the Great, anti-hero Wellington, the unheroic Ulysses S. Grant and the false heroic of Hitler – John Keegan propounds the view of heroism in warfare as inextricably linked with the political imperative of the age and place. He demonstrates how the role of the general alters with the ethos of the society that creates him and concludes that there is no place for heroism in a nuclear world.

The Mask of Command is a companion to John Keegan’s classic study of the individual soldier, The Face of Battle: together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.

From the Publisher

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