The Lords of War: Supreme Leadership from Lincoln to Churchill

by Correlli Barnett, The Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC DL (Foreword by)

Overview

In this compelling study of leadership, Correlli Barnett examines the strengths and weaknesses of twenty leaders in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He examines how the difficulties they faced and the political and strategic backgrounds of their days and analyses how they performed and what they achieved. Were they successful, or were they beaten down by the burden of their roles? His book considers men from very different backgrounds and from three continents in a range of modern conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to the Second World War. They range from statesmen like Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, to generals like Ulysses S. Grant, Douglas Haig, Erwin Rommel, Georgi Zhukov, Dwight Eisenhower and William Slim, to admirals lie Isoruku Yamamoto and Bertram Ramsey. These leaders present fascinating contrasts of personal character, styles of leadership and sheer aptitude for command as well as contrasts in the daunting professional problems that challenged each of them. In Lords of War Correlli Barnett yet again demolishes hallowed reputations and rehabilitates the unjustly scapegoated. His latest book confirms his reputation as a master in the field of strategic history.Napoleon Bonaparte Abraham LincolnUlysses S. GrantRobert E. LeeHelmuth, Graf von MoltkeNapoleon IIIJoseph JoffreHelmuth von Moltke the YoungerDouglas HaigDavid Lloyd GeorgePhilippe PtainErich LudendorffErwin Rommel Isoruku Yamamoto Arthur HarrisWilliam Slim Bertram RamsayDwight D. Eisenhower Georgi Zhukov Adolf Hitler Winston Churchill

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783378517
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	01/19/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	13 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Correlli Barnett is one of Britains best-known historians. A Fellow of both the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Historical Society, he was Keeper of the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College, Cambridge and has written many acclaimed books. These include his first, The Desert Generals, which challenged the myth of Montgomery and El Alamein, biographies of Marlborough and Bonaparte, The Swordbearers: Supreme Command in the First World War, The Collapse of British Power, and Engage the Enemy More Closely: The Royal Navy in the Second World War.

Table of Contents

List of Photographs vii

List of Maps viii

Foreword ix

Author's Acknowledgements xi

Author's Preface xiv

Introduction xv

Part I The Nineteenth Century

1 The Romantic Ideal of Leadership Napoleon Bonaparte 1

2 Crusader With a Blunt Sword: Abraham Lincoln and the Failing Generals 9

3 A Study in Contrast Ulysses S. Grant Robert E. Lee 24

4 The Calculator of Victory: Helmuth, Graf von Moltke and the Wars of Bismarck 41

5 The Price of Incompetence: Napoleon III and his Marshals 56

Part III The Great War 1914-1918

6 Nerve and Loss of Nerve: General Joffre versus Moltke the Younger 67

7 Stalemate and Scapegoat: General Sir Douglas Haig 82

8 Brilliance and Betrayal: David Lloyd George as War Premier 98

9 The Saviour of an Army: Maréchal Pétain and the French Mutinies 109

10 Leader to Catastrophe: First Quartermaster General Erich Ludendorff 120

11 The Victor of 1918: Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig 135

Part III The Second World War 1939-1945

12 Leader From the Front: Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel 143

13 The Reluctant Gambler: Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto 161

14 Fire-Raiser in Chief: Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris 173

15 From Defeat into Victory: General Sir William Slim 187

16 Neptune's Admiral: Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay 204

17 Coalition Supreme Commander: General Dwight D. Eisenhower 219

18 Stalin's Marshal: Marshal Georgi Zhukov 243

19 Spellbinder and Fantasist: Adolf Hitler 258

20 Victory at All Cost: Winston Churchill 278

Bibliography 301

Index 304