The Military 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Leaders of All Time [Mass Market Paperback]

Michael Lee Lanning Lt. Col (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

From the famous to the infamous to the obscure, The Military 100 provides the fascinating answers to a variety of questions about military leaders. In vivid biographical sketches, the author chronicles the lives and accomplishments of the world's most influential commanders, captains, generals, liberators and conquerors, from Alexander the Great to Hitler, from George Washington to Norman Schwarzkopf. Photos & illustrations.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Retired Army colonel Lanning (Senseless Secrets, Carol Pub. Group, 1995) gives a new twist on who's who among military leaders. Lanning not only provides concise biographies of his selected 100 military leaders but also takes the bold step of ranking them from one to 100, in the order of their enduring influence on world history. The selected 100 span 15 centuries of warfare, from Attila the Hun (#15) to Norman Schwarzkopf (#49) and include both heroes and villains, innovators and heretics. Hitler is ranked rather high at #14, while Kim Il Sung is a lowly #86. As expected, George Washington is ranked first on the list; lone female, Joan of Arc, is #43. This is a grand list, filled with the famous and infamous and even some obscure men like Lennart Torstensson and Thomas Cochrane. As a clever approach to military history, this is recommended for the general reader.?Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (ret.), Harpswell, Me.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Retired infantryman Lanning, author of several books on Vietnam, now tackles a wider canvas--all of history--to survey and rank the 100 most influential military figures. His criteria for inclusion measure not only battlefield prowess but also the long-term consequences of the specific leader's actions for the world, by which criteria George Washington outstrips Napoleon, and both Saddam Hussein and Adolph Hitler find places on the list. The biographies themselves are definitely capsule but definitely sound, balanced, well researched, and clear. Every reader will find at least one nonfavorite among the top 100 and the 50 honorable mentions and at least one favorite left out. But as an intelligent soldier-historian's roster of the movers and shakers of warfare, this book itself ranks high and will find readers in virtually any collection that includes it. Roland Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Citadel (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806524251
• ISBN-13: 978-0806524252
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,833,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not bad, December 11, 2003

By 

David N. Reiss (Haymarket, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Military 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Leaders of All Time (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Military 100" is a list of people in the authors opinion on who the greatest military leaders from history are: akin to Michael Harts book "The 100:A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History". The book is a good idea for spurring discussion of military history.

While I like the idea of his adherence to the idea that war is just politics continued by other means, and thus including a leaders talent for handing political situations... which is why he puts George Washington at the top of the list. But, it seems to me that this is really little more than an excuse to put Washington at the top of the list... for what I would think is really little more than his own patriotic belief in the greatness of America. However, I don't know if Washington really deserves the majority of the credit for the success of the American Revolution. The involvement of the French and the Spanish in the revolution, especially with Naval engagements with the British is at least as important to any of the campaigns in the colonies. Then there is the fact that the British military leadership in the American Revolution war, on the whole, rather lacking.

Yes, later as President, Washington did do much to put the fledging United States on the proper path toward greatness, but Lanning does not apparently consider that when ranking him number one on the list.

Also, I would not even consider folks like Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro for inclusion on a list of Military leaders. It especially seems wrong to rank them above people of most lasting military influence, such as Saladin, Doenitz, Ney or Patton. Hussein was nothing more than a common thug and was not a true military leader in any grand sense, and Castro is interesting, but I don't think him as somebody who is going to have lasting influence.

The inclusion of people like Washington, Hussein, Castro and others such as Hitler and Mao Zedong on the list makes some omissions seem rather glaring as well. Why no Lenin or Stalin or Muhammad? Yes, not true military leaders, but definitely very influential as political and religious leaders and with definite affects on military affairs. I know... the argument would be that Konev and Zhukov made the list and they were more important in the military decisions... but Stalin was at least as involved as Hitler, and more inclined to listen to them, which in the end made Stalin a more formidable long term foe, and Hitler's own Military leaders are also on the list: Guderian, Rommel, Doentiz, etc.

As you can see from my many quibbles, the book does start the discussions it intends too. I would have forseen a rather different list though.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but in many ways, flawed, October 1, 2006

By 

Unknown Comic - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Military 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Leaders of All Time (Mass Market Paperback)

First of all, I feel these lists will always draw criticism, since they are so subjective. How do you really pick a #1 vs a #4? Its all a matter of perspective. In this case, the perspective is very US and Western-centric. I do not have qualms with the choice of Washington as number one, but I do have a very large problem with Norman Schwarzkopf being 49 - he should not even be on the list. I would not even place him in the top 500, let alone 100. Given that this book was published in the mid 90s, the author should have let history dwell a bit more on the topic of the first Gulf War before putting any of the combatants in this book. To address this point directly, Schwarzkopf could have been replaced with any other competent general and the US would have still rolled over the Iraqi forces, there was simply a massive disparity in the capabilities and support for the two forces. Added to which, it can be argued that the US did not even emerge victorious from the long-term conflict in Iraq - Hussein maintained his power and defied the West until he was deposed in 2003, and at this point in 2006 it cannot be claimed that the US has even secured a viable peace in Iraq after a second invasion.

The US-centrism is also evident in the perspective of WW2. To say Omar Bradley or Eisenhower had greater significance in this conflict than Konev and Zhukov from the Red Army is simply ridiculous. And while the author feels that US general were instrumental in rebuilding Europe, so were the Soviets, in their own way. While the Normandy landing was incredible and daring, the Soviets were making gutsy and bloody moves like this literally daily.

Other issues I would raise in this book would be an almost complete ignorance of Eastern military figures. Some obvious ones are thrown in for fairness, but they seem to be given only a cursory glance. Saladin being so far down the list is unforgivable - he turned away the Crusades and influenced Middle Eastern thought for centuries. To tell me that Stormin' Norman is more influential than Saladin is almost a statement of ignorance.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Immensely enjoyable and thought-provoking, January 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Military 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Military Leaders of All Time (Hardcover)

Every once in a while I find a reference book that I can just open up at any point in the book and find something interesting. This book is one of those. Lanning's writing style is clear and concise. Every historical figure in the list gets about 2 to 4 pages. Generally, this is long enough to basically cover each subject, but short enough to keep things flowing.

The thing you have to remember while reading the book is that the basis for ranking is the person's overall influence on world history as opposed to purely military viewpoint. For instance, George Washington was not chosen as the most influential general because he was the best military leader. He certainly wasn't. He rated number one because his persistence as a military leader was instrumental in winning independence for the colonies. Since the U.S. went on to become the world's strongest power (currently), Washington was given the nod.

Do I agree with all of Lanning's ratings? No. I thought that Rommel was placed too far down on the list. There were a number of points where my ranking differed from Lanning's. But that's what makes the book so interesting. It prompted me to research some of the events and leaders mentioned in more depth and certainly got me questioning, analyzing and thinking - which is what Lanning intended all along, I think. I don't think of this book as the definitive final answer on the subject of who were the most influential military leaders of all time. I consider it more as a very interesting starting point.

In summary, it's one of the best book buys I've made this year. I enjoyed it thoroughly.