Churchill’s Generals – Review
There has been a movement among historians to step away from the “great man theory.” That is, instead of focusing on the decisions and actions of one man (and it usually was a man) at the top, we should be looking more at what the average person was doing.
I see this in many of the recent military books where there is at least an attempt to balance the account of the generals with the privates and lance corporals. This is a good thing.
At the same time, there is still a need for us to look at the generals, these men of strong character, quirky habits and often bad decisions. A good example is Churchill’s Generals, edited by John Keegan.
When you think of British generals, you probably think of Montgomery. Some others may think of Wavell or Auchinleck. But there were many more.
This enjoyable book looks at twenty British generals from the Second World War, from both the European and Pacific Theatres.
Although Churchill is in the title, it is not about him, it is about the generals that he worked with. There is some account of their relationships but it is not the focus. Definitely Churchill liked some of them better than others.
One of the things I appreciated was that each author outlines their military careers, usually starting in the First World War. There are attempts to help understand the forces that shaped them into the leaders they became.
Some of these generals were more successful than others. Sometimes it was because they were in an impossible situation, sometimes it was because they just made bad decisions. There are a number of examples of the wrong person in the wrong role.
As someone who enjoys both military history and leadership, Churchill’s Generals was a great read. This book is very inexpensive on Kindle and I suggest you check it out.
