The Perfect Officer focuses on the careers of a group of brilliant officers from the Napoleonic Wars and up to our own times: what they did right, what they did wrong, and what lessons they drew from their experiences. The book’s recurring theme is the importance of imagination, and it demonstrates how these men were constantly inspired by each other and borrowed each other’s ideas. A number of these lessons are equally applicable in the civilian sphere, with one notable difference: If a business leader errs, he may lose his position or his investment. An officer risks losing his life and the lives of the men entrusted to his command.

Henrik Bering is a graduate of Oxford University (Pembroke College) and has been a Professional Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. He is the author of Outpost Berlin: The American Forces in Berlin 1945-94 and Helmut Kohl: The Man Who Reunited Germany, Rebuilt Europe, and Thwarted the Soviet Empire. His essays and reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The New Criterion, and Policy Review.