Book Description
John Keegan asks us to consider questions that are seldom asked: What makes a great military leader? Why is it that men, indeed sometimes entire nations, follow a single leader, often to victory, but with equal dedication also to defeat?
Dozens of names come to mind...Napoleon, Lee, Charlemagne, Hannibal, Castro, Hussein. From a wide array, Keegan chooses four commanders who profoundly influenced the course of history: Alexander the Great, the Duke of Wellington, Ulysses S. Grant and Adolph Hitler. All powerful leaders, each cast in a different mold, each with diverse results.
"THE MASK OF COMMAND is as good as military history can get." (B-O-M-C News)
Customer Reviews:
A fun read, sometimes incisive, sometimes downright wrong........2007-09-30
The Mask of Command is a fun read with plenty of good ideas to go around but the casual reader needs to be very careful as Keegan sometimes gets things just plain wrong.
Take for example the essay on Grant, called "Unheroic Leadership". Analyzed as such because Grant subscribed to the idea of never leading from the front (mainly because leading from the front was both impossible and foolish by the beginning of the America Civil War), Keegan digs into what made Grant an especially fine general. While some of his finds are clever and his psychological assessment of Grant seems to hold water, his understanding of Grant as a particularly adept technocrat who adapted to the changing role of technology in the war is downright wrong.
I direct those of you who are interested in the truth to both Charles Dana's accounts of the civil war and to Lincoln's writings. Both of these men found Grant's use of the telegraph paltry and Lincoln was many times found wanting more information from Grant's camp. Indeed, Keegan assumes that Grant's use of the telegraph was a key ingredient to his unheroic leadership because he harnessed new technology to direct troops appropriately, but this is patently false as Grant despised sending telegraphs to anyone at all. It is much more likely that Keegan was sniffing the right path in declaring Grant as extremely proficient in his ability to surround himself with capable men such as Sherman and McPherson proved to be.
As I said, the careful reader will find quite a few discrepancies and a little digging will result in Keegan getting caught with his pants down, but there is also much to like about the book - just be careful with it because Keegan isn't.
Three stars is a bit harsh, but four stars would be too much. 3 1/2 is about right.
armchair analysis with lots and lots of words.......2007-06-30
I didn't think much of this book. Keegan's character introductions at the beginning of each section are quite good. When reading about Wellington's adventure throughout the four days of the Waterloo campaign, I believed that Keegan had written a great book. Then I got to his analysis and comparison to Alexander. As I fought my way through these subsequent pages of boredom I kept asking myself the question, "who cares?" The whole premis of the book would be better discussed over a couple beers and then only by history nerds. I would not recommend this book to anyone in the military, specifically in combat roles, hoping to mine some leadership leasons. I would have given the book two stars except for Keegan's undeniable command of exciting history prose, which is unfortunately only evident in small doses throughout this book.
Excellent Work by the World's Best Military Historian.......2007-03-29
John Keegan's Mask of Command is another great book from a truly great author. This is not necessarily an easy read, though certain parts read like a gripping novel. I read the book 20 years after it was written and find it to be an excellent study in command despite only a few outdated references (Soviet Union, etc). I would like to see Keegan publish a revised edition with his insight on the challenges of today's commanders and heads of state who must combat terrorism more than the spectre of Nuclear Holocaust.
A Fascinating Study of Military Command.......2007-02-12
John Keegan's highly accessible study of "The Mask of Command" was written 20 years ago but continues to hold up as an excellent examination of military leadership for the general reader.
Keegan provides fascinating case studies of the leadership styles of Alexander the Great of Greece, the British Duke of Wellington, American General U.S. Grant, and Adolf Hitler as Fuhrer of Germany. The physically courageous and flamboyant Alexander is styled the "heroic" leader; the understated Wellington an "anti-hero"; Grant, a humble man who had known personal hard times, as "unheroic"; and Hitler, a highly skilled practioner of theatrical propaganda, as the "false-heroic" leader. The case studies are engrossing if inevitably simplified for brevity; Keegan has captured the essentials of each man and the associated lessons of leadership.
Leadership studies are a challenging topic. It should be noted that Alexander and Hitler were simultaneously military leaders and heads of state, while Wellington's and Grant's civilian leadership roles came after their military careers. Changes in technology and society have had enormous impact on military leadership. Leading from the tip of the spear as Alexander did was almost a requirement in his day but would seem foolishly exposed in our own. Wellington's hands-on tactical leadership would become impossible on the far larger battlefields of the 20th and 21st century. Grant's willingness to take casulties would likely be politically unsupportable now, as it nearly was in his time. Hitler's leadership was an aberation in more ways than one. Keegan gets well-deserved credit for producing such a concise and readable book on such a tough topic.
This book is highly recommended to the general reader looking for an introduction into the study of military leadership.
War as the Extension of Policy By Other Means .......2006-08-05
The Mask of Command By John Keegan
--Reviewed by Philip W. Henry, Rialto CA
The British military historian John Keegan ("The Face of Battle";" The First World War") has a knack for distilling military history into a few well-crafted paragraphs. He does so particularly well in "The Mask of Command" -a study of leadership styles among Alexander (The Heroic); Grant (The Un-Heroic); Wellington (The Anti-Heroic); Hitler (`The False Heroic') and contemporary leaders (The'Post-Heroic').
His point is to distinguish among military leadership styles based on the personality and initiative of the Commander.
In a particularly insightful chapter, Keegan dissects the Battle of Waterloo on an hour-by-hour basis, paying particular note to Wellington's characteristic attention to detail and stamina (he is said to have slept fewer than eight hours during the course of the weeklong battle).
The importance of Military Intelligence (the subject of another Keegan book) is especially vital in earlier conquests, when the gathering of intelligence depended largely on Scouts, as in the Civil War, and not on technology, as in America's latest adventures in World Domination.
The lessons of the past, as in all history, are available to the Current Political Leadership: if only they examine them.
--By Philip Henry (Rialto, CA, Vietnam Veteran)
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The Mask of Command
Manufacturer: Viking
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000E5HZ8Q |
Product Description
Relationship of men & violence.
Book Description
Most studies of generalship have focused on individual character and behaviour. While these are not neglected in this remarkable book, its central argument is that, like warfare itself, generalship is a cultural enterprise, providing a key to understanding a particular era or place, as much as it is an exercise in power or military skill.
Through portraits of four generals – archetypal hero Alexander the Great, anti-hero Wellington, the unheroic Ulysses S. Grant and the false heroic of Hitler – John Keegan propounds the view of heroism in warfare as inextricably linked with the political imperative of the age and place. He demonstrates how the role of the general alters with the ethos of the society that creates him and concludes that there is no place for heroism in a nuclear world.
The Mask of Command is a companion to John Keegan’s classic study of the individual soldier,
The Face of Battle: together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.
Customer Reviews:
Leadership Profiles: Separate but Close........2007-07-06
"The Mask of Command" is a very commendable reading for different audiences: those interested in specific military topics, those interested in history (as myself), those who research on leadership and more, much more, because John Keegan writes with a dynamic and fluent style and expose his ideas very engagingly.
Four historical figures are chosen as examples for this study; we may dissent with the choice. I'm sure every reader will have a different list, if forced to select four characters among the enormous list of suitable candidates.
Each Commander is presented in his historical background: political and social circumstances; his staff and soldiers, his ideals and goals, his methods and resources.
Then each one is compared and confronted with the other subjects.
Here is where Mr. Keegan displays a very imaginative and didactical approach.
A deep insight into the commandeering skills of these forceful characters, separated in time and space, but very close to each other in the quests they have to solve.
A great book to be sure!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
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Mask of Command
John Keegan
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ5FTS |
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Mask of Command.
John Keegan
Manufacturer: Publisher Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UY10OQ |
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The Mask of Command
Manufacturer: Viking
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000E5HZ5O |
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Migration in Modern World History 1500-2000 CD-ROM with User Guide (Student Version)
Patrick Manning
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Migration in World History (Themes in World History)
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A Student's Guide to History
ASIN: 0534574394 |
Book Description
This interactive multimedia curriculum on CD-ROM goes beyond the mere chronicling of migratory paths to provide a springboard that allows students to explore a wide range of global issues in social, cultural, economic, and political history. Human migration is the story of individual lives enmeshed in the large themes of identity, culture, work, social institutions, and coercion. This link between individual experience and social forces makes migration an especially rich subject for the introductory study of world history.
Book Description
Master the essential scientific methods and make your science project a winner!
Whether youre hoping to wow the judges at the next science fair, want to do a great job on a school project, or are looking forward to a career in science, How to Make Your Science Project Scientific will give you the tools you need to make your dream a reality. From choosing an idea and developing a hypothesis, to using variables and controls, to performing accurate measurements and keeping comprehensive records, author Thomas Moorman walks you through all the aspects of making your science project the best it can be.
Filled with examples of both good and bad experiments and projects, How to Make Your Science Project Scientific shows you how to use the time-tested scientific methods respected by professional scientists. Youll learn about blind and double-blind experiments; how to do case studies; how to make naturalistic observations and create controlled surveys; how to publish your findings; and much more. With How to Make Your Science Project Scientific, you can find out how to create a winning science fair project while you learn to "do science" the way the professionals do!
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A Manual of Nature Conservation Law
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Nature conservation law encompasses a wide range of subjects including the protection of species, nature reserves, sites of special scientific interest, environmental duties, and nature conservation organisations. This manual contains sources of nature conservation law collected together in a convenient and comprehensively annotated reference volume. The book sets out the texrt of statutes, many of which have been extensively amended, such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, amd secondary legislation including the recent Conservation (Natural Habitats etc) Regulations 1994 made in consequence of the EC habitats directive. The manual extends to provision relation to agriculture, forestry, amd the water industry which are relevant to nature conservation. The manual enables legal provisions to be located quickly without the need to search through several sources and will prove to be a practical guide to all those concerned with nature conservation.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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The NEPA Compliance Manual provides you with a basic introduction to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and guides you through the development of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Contents include coverage of the impact of NEPA on federal programs, compliance strategies, assessment of environmental impacts, and managing the development of EIS.
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Sampling, Analysis, and Monitoring Methods: A Guide to EPA and OSHA Requirements
Ph.D., C.C. Lee
Manufacturer: Government Institutes
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Urban Environments and Wildlife Law: A Manual for Sustainable Development
Paul Rees
Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing Limited
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Clean Air Handbook
F. William Brownell et al
Manufacturer: Government Institutes
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0865876169 |
Book Description
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