Ike and Monty: Generals at War [Paperback]

Norman Gelb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1995

Published on the eve of the 50th anniversary of D-Day, this is the first book that focuses exclusively on the military relationship that determined the fate of the Allied effort to liberate Europe in World War II. Compulsively readable, Ike and Monty presents the true story of Dwight Eisenhower, English general Montgomery, and their struggle against the Nazis.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gelb ( Desperate Venture ) offers a comprehensive analysis of the troubled wartime collaboration between two military leaders whose professional differences were compounded by deep contrasts in character and behavior. Gelb depicts Dwight D. Eisenhower as likable and honorable, conspicuously successful as managing director of the Allied war effort but less effective as a general. He too often allowed himself to be distracted by the non-military aspects of his job, Gelb argues; his campaigns would have benefited from closer control and a firmer hand. Bernard Law Montgomery emerges as a difficult man whose aspirations, particularly after the Normandy campaign, were not matched by his achievements. Gelb admires his narrow-front strategic plan for ending WW II quickly, but he also demonstrates that the Field Marshal's poisonous personality made it impossible for him to win Eisenhower's support for his concept. Specialists will discover nothing new here, though others will find a useful study of the human aspects of high military command. Photos not seen by PW .
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

This is a double portrait of the two very different personalities whose cooperation at the apex of the Allied military command in WW II had profound implications for the war effort. In many ways, Eisenhower and Montgomery exemplified their different nations. Ike, the son of an impoverished Midwestern farmer, was easygoing, charismatic, and modest. Montgomery came from the British ruling class, if not from its upper echelons. Although both graduated from elite military academies, only Monty had the arrogance of man born into privilege. His eccentricity, his extraordinary habit of treating his superiors as if they were inferiors, his obsession with military perfection made him a difficult ally for the Americans. ``Damn it'' Ike exclaimed, ``Montgomery's the only man in either army I can't get along with.'' During the D-day invasion, Monty tendered a plan for the invasion of Germany totally at odds with that of the American high command. Bradley, Patton, and other US generals were outraged, suspecting Montgomery of being a crackpot, but Eisenhower granted him a division. The suspicion and tension never relaxed. From Eisenhower's point of view, British public opinion had to be placated by giving Montgomery prominence; the problem was that the latter treated Eisenhower himself as a military ignoramus. Gelb's account of Montgomery's first great victory over Rommel at El Alamein is gripping stuff, and his explanations of the behind-the- scenes antagonisms and maneuverings are eye-opening. Montgomery's obnoxious character, above all, comes over loud and clear. He once asked an English lord if he could stay at his country house while training nearby. The lord agreed, delighted. But Montgomery then said he would not dine with anyone and would need a whole wing. Outraged, the lord withdrew his offer, whereupon Montgomery had him thrown out of the house and stayed there himself for the rest of the war. Generals at War abounds with such telling anecdotes and also is given backbone by Gelb's (Desperate Venture, 1992) clear understanding of warfare and the politics of WW II. (26 b&w photos) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Quill (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688143466
• ISBN-13: 978-0688143466
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,874,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Different Military Lives, Different Visions for War, February 12, 2006

By 

Mannie Liscum (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ike and Monty: Generals at War (Paperback)

Norman Gelb's "Ike and Monty: Generals At War" is a solid historical look at the two most influential Allied commanders of the Second World War: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery. While "Ike" gained his fame from leading the great coalition forces to victory in Europe, without ever having commanded front line troops - save his dual role of Supreme Allied Commander and Land Forces Commander after 1 Sept 1944. Ike was a career staff officer with no direct combat experience. In contrast, "Monty" was a soldiers' commander, having served as a junior officer in the lines during the Great War, and then commanding troops from regimental to Army Group in the Second World War. The contrast in combat experience of these two great figures could hardly be greater. In fact, these divergent backgrounds form much of the basis of controversies associated with these two men, both during and after the war.

Readers should be aware that the controversies surrounding Ike and Monty were/are not based on trivialities of differing personalities and/or military experiences per se, rather that the experiences of these two individuals shaped how each approached leadership, both tactically and strategically, and that these differences lead to stress and controversy. For example, it cannot be doubted that Monty possessed one of the keenest tactical minds of the war - Eisenhower by virtue of his position was rarely if ever in a position to drive tactical decisions. On the other side of the equation Ike clearly had the upper hand with respect to leadership of coalition forces where concern about inter-national friction and politically necessities were key - Monty's handling of the press during the Battle of the Bulge serves as one poignant example of his inability to handle "sticky" political situations. Commanders on both sides of the Atlantic recognized the strengths of these leaders: Joe "Lightning" Collins had great admiration of Monty's tactical leadership and ability to maintain a high degree of morale in troops he led, while a personality no less than the CIGS of the British Army, Alanbrooke, felt that Eisenhower was likely the only Allied leader during the war that could have held together the coalition as he did.

Gelb deals unbiasedly with these issues and many others as he presents a compelling story of these two men and their roles within the larger Allied victory over Hilter's legions in North Africa and NW Europe in 1943-45. As if to stress the point made above about the inter-Allied controversies being beyond the scope of petty personality differences Gelb writes on p. 415 "The quarrel that persisted [here Gelb is referring to inter-Allied controversy over strategy] - and still does among historians - was not so much about which country or service won the war, but how it could have been won more efficiently, more quickly, with fewer casualties, and less grief." This is at the heart of Gelb's analysis of Ike and Monty, that their differences in training and experiences lead them to make fundamentally conclusions about how the war should be prosecuted. Monty believed in minimizing horrid losses of human life like that occurring in the Great War by maximizing troop morale through employment of overwhelming "metal over man" (or Colossal Cracks as Monty termed it). On the other hand Ike was struggling to maintain a fragile Alliance where national interests and political influences needed to be considered in development of military strategy, points on which Monty rarely reflected. Thus in the end neither Monty nor Ike truly represented the fullness of what was needed to prosecute the war fully and quickest with the least loss of life. Gelb deals with these issues constructively and fairly, leaving the reader with a greater appreciation for the complexities of command decisions leading to victory in Europe. Overall, this is a 4.5 star book worthy of a read by serious students of the Second World War, as well as those broadly interested/intrigued by the functioning of coalition forces in war.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent description of world war II, October 22, 1999

By 

Frank Winter (St Louis, Mo) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ike and Monty: Generals at War (Paperback)

This book not only portrays the relationship between Eisenhower and Montgomery but gives a vivid and complete description of the important events that transpired in Europe and Africa during World War II. Best of all, it is done in a very professional , easy to read style.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, brief biography of two top generals., September 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ike and Monty: Generals at War (Paperback)

This was a very readable book that presents the backgrounds and careers of Eisenhower and Montgomery. While the book does come up short in fully analyzing the clashes between the two men, he does give a good account of the pressures Eisenhower was under and how maddening it must have been for anyone to deal with "Monty" for any length of time. The ending seemed abruptly cut off, but I would recommend this book for those wanting a brief overview of these two generals.