About this title: A wide-ranging, forceful, and fascinating analysis of generals - who they are, what they do, and how they affect the world we live in. Its central argument is that, like warfare itself, generalship is a cultural activity, providing a key to understanding a particular place or era, as much as it is an exercise in power or military skill. Other books by the same author include: "The Face Of Battle", "Who's Who In Military History" and "The Nature of War".
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Adult
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780670459889ISBN:0670459887
Description: Very Good. Moderate jacket wear with scuffing to edges. GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780140114065ISBN:0140114068
Description: Very Good. SLIGHT COVER WEAR WITH MINOR SCUFFING TO EDGES SLIGHT SGE TONING GoodwillnyBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service. You may return new items within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books, New York
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780140114065ISBN:0140114068
Description: 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Sixth PB Printing. Lightly worn along edges with a 1/2" tear on bottom front of spine, about Very Good Condition, in wraps. Octavo sized PB, 368 pages, index, bibliography, maps, illustrations. "A brilliant treatise on the essence of military leadership...." focusing on Alexander, Wellington, Grant, Hitler. read more
Edition: 1st
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Viking Press, N. Y.
Date Published: 1987
Description: Cover Art. Very Good. No Jacket. Trade Paperback. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. MISC. -----------The cover has very light shelf wear...........We are very careful when we list our books, but sometimes something minor may get by...... read more
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. This Book is in Good Condition. There is some age wear, but not a lot. Good Quality! I send out same day. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 368 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. This Book is in Good Condition. There is some age wear, but not a lot. Good Quality! I send out same day. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Viking, New York
Date Published: 1987
Description: Fine. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. First American Edition. 368 pp. with index and bibliography. Black and white photos. No writing or marks. Binding is tight. Spine is not creased. Wraps are clean. read more
"I really liked this book. It was my initial introduction to Alexander, within the context of the evolution of generalship since his life 2,500 years ago. In addition to Wellington and Grant, the book also covers Adolf Hitler under the chapter heading 'False Hero' and shows what a deluded putz he actually was in WWII. There have more 'false heroes' since. They start violent wars.
The book is, in my opinion, missing a chapter. It kind of ends in the nuclear age, admonishing modern leaders to tend towards doing nothing, or "post-heroic command". With regard to dropping nuclear bombs on each other, I would agree with that, however we're heading towards a whole new kind of war. To ensure our long term survival, the job of the warrior, our biosphere needs an entirely new kind of heroic warrior to emerge, individuals with the moral fortitude required to take a stand in lead-by-example ways."
"Analyzes Alexander, Wellington, Grant, and Hitler as well as their place in the history of military leadership. The logical companion to "The Face of Battle", this is amazing and bound to shatter a lot of presumptions you may already have on the subject."
"In my last year of high school, Mr. Goodman, my world history teacher, organized a formal debate lasting a fortnight in order to assess which countries were most responsible for the outbreak of WWI. Were it not for that experience and Keegan's The First World War, i would probably not be where i am today. I've since moved away from military history as a field of study, focusing more on political theory and transgression in the late medieval era, but it remains a passion of mine. So, when a friend offered to lend me a copy of Mask of Command i couldn't pass it up.
Keegan, for all of his being one of the world's foremost military historians, suffers from what i dub "Harold Bloom" syndrome: He rewrites essentially the same books over and over again. That said, this specimen is fantastic. Using the example of four extraordinary generals, Alexander the Great, Wellington, Grant and Hitler, he analyzes their differing styles of leadership and command. Keegan offers a framework for comparison as he goes along arguing that the key question for ANY general, not just these four, is the extent to which they must share the danger with their troops. While each individual chapter provides a well-written, informative and insightful account of the particularities of situation and style of each general, the conclusion ties it all together very nicely. I learnt a lot from this book and think it is a great example of non-fiction palatable to both academic and amateur alike.
That said, there are a few problems with the book that caused me to groan. Firstly, it definitely suffers from a euro-centrism that undermines Keegan's authority. Only because this IS Keegan writing am i willing to trust his assertions without the formidable footnotes i would demand of any other writer. I have lost the quotations to back up this criticism, but i remember it was particularly prominent in the section about Wellington's background in India.
Lastly, the conclusion is divided into sections, each addressing different "imperatives" of command and providing a brief synopsis of how context, character and technology played out the success or failure of each general: Kinship, Prescription, Sanction, Action and Example. This conception of human history as teleological, i frankly can't agree with (see Eurocentrism criticism above). Furthermore, the argument borders on the ridiculous when the culminating section is a "validation of nuclear authority." Yes, i realize that, in 1987, nuclear war was still a very real threat as Keegan wrote. However, today, we are not nearly as occupied by nuclear warfare as by biological warfare and acts of terrorism committed by groups of individuals rather than armies. Mask of Command provides a very dated account of contemporary military leadership - but that doesn't in the least take away from its analysis of generalship in the past.
It took me over a month to slug through, but it was mostly the Hitler section that i had trouble with - not because it was poorly written but because it is difficult to get excited by a tale of defeat. Grant was an interesting choice for study - as numerous heated arguments about whether Lee or Grant was the better general have evidenced. I recommend this as a heavier read to just about everyone."
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