The Memoirs of General the Lord Ismay, K.G., P.C., G.C.B., C.H., D.S.O.
Ismay, Lord [Ismay, Hastings Lionel]
From Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
AbeBooks Seller Since August 14, 1998
Quantity: 1From Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
AbeBooks Seller Since August 14, 1998
Quantity: 1About this Item
ix, [4], 486, [4] pages. Frontis illustration. Maps. Endpaper maps. Diagrams. Index. Ink name and stamp inside the front board. DJ soiled, scuffed, and small tears. Hastings Lionel Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay KG, GCB, CH, DSO, PC, DL (21 June 1887 - 17 December 1965), was a diplomat and general in the British Indian Army, remembered primarily for his role as Winston Churchill's chief military assistant during the Second World War and his service as the first Secretary General of NATO from 1952 to 1957. On 1 August 1938, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Ismay became the Committee on Imperial Defense's Secretary and began planning for the impending war. In May 1940, when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he selected Ismay as his chief military assistant and staff officer. In that capacity, Ismay served as the principal link between Churchill and the Chiefs of Staff Committee. Ismay accompanied Churchill to many of the Allied war conferences. After the end of the war, Ismay remained in the army for another year, and helped to reorganize the Ministry of Defence. He then retired and served as Lord Mountbatten of Burma's Chief of Staff in India, helping to oversee its partition. In 1951, when Churchill again became Prime Minister, he appointed Ismay Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations. After retiring from NATO, Ismay wrote his memoirs, served on a variety of corporate boards, and co-chaired the Ismay-Jacob Committee, which reorganized the Ministry of Defence once again. From an appreciation found on-line by Andrew Roberts: General Sir Hastings Lionel "Pug" Ismay was Winston Churchill's chief military assistant during the Second World War and the first Secretary General of NATO, serving from 1952 to 1957. Although he held important posts before and after the Second World War, including Lord Mountbatten's chief of staff during the transfer of power in India, he wisely devoted over three hundred of the 464 pages of his memoirs to his five years with Churchill. The result is an essential source for Churchill biographers and Second World War historians. Everyone liked Pug, and in the sometimes extremely fraught interactions between Churchill and the British chiefs of staff, it often fell to him to pour oil on the occasionally grinding wheels. He never lost the confidence and friendship of Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke (later Lord Alanbrooke), the chairman of the British chiefs of staff. Ismay's memoirs are well-written, direct, and always from "the room where it happened" since he saw the prime minister daily throughout Churchill's wartime premiership, accompanied him on all his journeys abroad, and organized his military secretariat with extreme efficiency born of having been the Assistant secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence since 1925. In all military affairs, there was no one closer to Churchill during the war than Ismay, to whom he confided all his thoughts, hopes, and fears. First U.K. Edition. Presumed first printing. Seller Inventory # 1675
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Memoirs of General the Lord Ismay, K.G.,...
Publisher: Heinemann, London
Publication Date: 1960
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Good
Edition: 1st Edition
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