Montgomery: Lessons in Leadership from the Soldier's General (World Generals) [Hardcover]

Trevor Royle (Author), Wesley K. K. Clark (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 23, 2010 | Series: World Generals

Bernard Law Montgomery was a dedicated battlefield tactician, though a controversial one. In North Africa in 1942, he commanded the Eighth Army to a great triumph against Rommel at El Alamein, which Churchill hailed as the beginning of the end of the war. During the planning stages for the invasion of Sicily, Montgomery proved himself to be a splendid organizer and a great believer in simplicity. But he was also known as a complicated man whose legacy remains tainted by his insensitive and boastful nature and desire for personal glory—all of which can have dangerous consequences on the battlefield. In the end, though, it was only due to Montgomery’s influence that the weight of the Allied attack at Normandy was increased, and the Allied success of D-Day owes much to his far-sightedness. In the field, especially during the planning stages, he was at his best. An inspirational commander whose self-confidence was legendary, Montgomery’s military life has proved to be a great lesson for leaders in the years since.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The World Generals series puts the leading British commander of WWII in competent hands. Royle offers a balanced view of Monty’s 50-year career, including both his gifts (organizing and training troops and inspiring them to do their best, as well as sound strategic and tactical concepts) and his failings. These include somewhat rigid planning (possibly influenced by his WWI experience; he wanted to get set-piece battles done right) and a singular lack of tact and diplomacy with not only his own superiors and enemies but also his American allies. Whatever effect this last attribute had on American evaluations of him (which may remain hostile for another century), Monty was a thoroughly professional soldier who loathed sloppiness and made a badly needed and substantially successful effort to rout it out of every British formation he commanded. He earned his baton. --Roland Green

Review

Praise for Montgomery:

“Royle's polished and balanced analysis confirms Montgomery's place as Britain's greatest modern field commander and one of its great captains. Monty’s mastery of the set-piece battle was matched only by his ability to sustain morale and inspire confidence in citizen-soldiers, sustaining Britain's war effort even as its resources diminished.”—Dennis Showalter, author of Patton and Rommel: Men of War

 

"Montgomery provides a concise, objective assessment of the best known and most controversial British commander of World War II.  Trevor Royle sets 'Monty' in context of his origins, career, and contemporaries, contrasting the general's strengths (training and organization) against his faults (stubborness and vanity).  The analysis of Montgomery's often troubled relations with his American allies is especially worthwhile."--Barrett Tillman, author of LeMay and Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan

 

"No top commander of World War II cries out more urgently for a concise but comprehensive and balanced reassessment than Bernard Law Montgomery. Trevor Royle's compact biography provides precisely this--and does so with great intelligence, understanding, and elegance. Not a flaw or failing is winked at, but, in the end, we come to appreciate the justice of Churchill's postwar challenge to Monty's critical colleagues: 'I know why you all hate him. You are jealous: he is better than you are.'"--Alan Axelrod, author of Patton and Bradley

 

"In his illuminating biography, Trevor Royle casts British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery as the multi-faceted commander that he was—a skillful strategist and capable leader while being at times stubbornly nationalistic in coalition warfare.  Royle reminds us that Montgomery’s strengths in leadership often offset his weaknesses and that he deserves a lofty spot among World War II commanders."--John Wukovits, author of Eisenhower

“Royle's polished and balanced analysis confirms Montgomery's place as Britain's greatest modern field commander and one of its great captains. Monty’s mastery of the set-piece battle was matched only by his ability to sustain morale and inspire confidence in citizen-soldiers, sustaining Britain's war effort even as its resources diminished.”—Dennis Showalter, author of Patton and Rommel: Men of War

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (November 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230614892
• ISBN-13: 978-0230614895
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #891,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, needs editing, June 1, 2011

By 

Bally Scotsman (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Montgomery: Lessons in Leadership from the Soldier's General (World Generals) (Hardcover)

This is a fairly decent introduction to Field Marshall Viscount Montgomery. There is a good deal of information in its 185 pages, and although one could have wished for more detail about Monty's experiences in the Great War, the greater part of the story must of course concern WWII, and therein author does attempt to balance the extremes of British Monty-worship and American Monty-bashing.

Monty's generalship - and character - continue to be controversial, perhaps most particularly in regard to Operation Market-Garden (his brain-child), and the Battle of the Bulge. As to the former, the author judiciously distributes blame for this grand failure between Monty's uncharacteristically risk-laden concept, Gen. Browning's staff work, Gen. Horrock's tactical leadership, and Supreme Commander Eisenhower's approval of the whole bloody thing, against his own stated preference for a broad-front strategy. I do wonder if the author is rather too stern on XXX Corps on the ground (where, I ask, was their tactical air support?) and also on the Red Devils themselves at Arnhem - I have never been dropped on top of an SS Panzer division, but I cannot imagine it to be a very pleasant experience.

As for the "Bulge", the author inexplicably refrains from quoting Monty's actual remarks at the infamous press-conference after the battle. The spectacle of Monty ostensibly taking credit for turning the tide, winning the battle, and saving the US Army, certainly should be the high-(or low-)light in any account of the rivalries and jealousies that riddled the Allied high command. More seriously, one wonders if a truly objective, impartial, and comprehensive account of the Battle, that treats of the British role with neither dismissal nor exaggeration, is even possible? One senses the possibility here, not quite realised.

The text, though mostly well written, is hindered by certain factual and editorial glitches, of which the following were most striking:

p38: "Hitler had come to power in Germany in 1934..." Twas 1933, actually.

p74: Churchill is quoted as saying that the battle of El Alamein marked the beginning of the end. What he actually said was "it is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

p106: in discussing the question of who would lead the June 1944 Normandy landings, we are told that Churchill preferred General Alexander for the role "as late as January 1945", which makes little sense and presumably should read January 1944.

p108: an entire passage "the plan called for an invasion force...success would depend...destroy their road and rail..." is repeated virtually verbatim on the very next page, needlessly so.

p150: Bastogne is referred to as "the beleaguered town" twice in he same paragraph - a petty peeve, perhaps, but one any teacher would red-line.

p152 "In early January, at the beginning of 1945..." I would be interested to know of a year in which January did not occur at the beginning.

Finally, the author sees fit to employ, near the end of the book, two bits of German terminology: "schwerpunkt" and "materielschlacht", without bothering to provide any definition. Certainly in a work aimed at the non-specialist, such seemingly gratuitous inclusion of foreign military jargon begs justification. (A schwerpunkt is the point of most forceful thrust of an attack; materielschlacht refers to the "battle of supply" which must be attended to as well as the actual combat aspect of a military operation or campaign.)

Withal, not entirely unworthy of the relatively short time it took to read.