The Generals

A New York Times bestseller! An epic history of the decline of American military leadership—from the bestselling author of Fiasco and Churchill and Orwell . While history has been kind to the American generals of World War II—Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley—it has been less kind to the generals of the wars that followed, such as Koster, Franks, Sanchez, and Petraeus. In The Generals , Thomas E. Ricks sets out to explain why that is. In chronicling the widening gulf between performance and accountability among the top brass of the U.S. military, Ricks tells the stories of great leaders and suspect ones, generals who rose to the occasion and generals who failed themselves and their soldiers. In Ricks’s hands, this story resounds with larger meaning: about the transmission of values, about strategic thinking, and about the difference between an organization that learns and one that fails.

With the world in turmoil there is is considerable global interest in the record of military commanders in various countries throughout the ages. But what made them successful? And why have they become military legends? How much is it to do with their strategic abilities, leadership qualities or force of personality? These are the questions this book seeks to answer. Using the same structure as the successful, PRIME MINISTERS, PRESIDENTS and DICTATORS it features essays on military commanders from many countries around the world, from Roman times to the 20th and 21st centuries. The essays are written by a range of military experts, academics, historians, commentators, political journalists and serving politicians who have either written about their subjects before or have a personal connection of some kind.

With the world in turmoil there is is considerable global interest in the record of military commanders in various countries throughout the ages. But what made them successful? And why have they become military legends? How much is it to do with their strategic abilities, leadership qualities or force of personality? These are the questions this book seeks to answer. Using the same structure as the successful, PRIME MINISTERS, PRESIDENTS and DICTATORS it features essays on military commanders from many countries around the world, from Roman times to the 20th and 21st centuries. The essays are written by a range of military experts, academics, historians, commentators, political journalists and serving politicians who have either written about their subjects before or have a personal connection of some kind.