This well researched book will have an impact on civilian-military relations as long-lasting as Samuel Huntington's "Soldier and the State," published fifty years ago but still a landmark. The author examines four examples of excellent democratic leadership of the military during wartime: Lincoln, Clemenceau, Churchill, and Ben-Gurion. These four break the current "normal theory of civil-military relations," which holds that civilian leaders should set political goals and leave the details of implementation to the neutral competence of military professionals. The "normal theory" is currently the predominant orthodoxy: Lyndon Johnson meddled in Vietnam military matters, irretrievably messing up that effort; George H.W. Bush set the goals in the Persian Gulf and left the military unimpeded to execute policy. The four supreme commanders Cohen expounds upon break the current orthodoxy: they were deeply involved in military matters, Churchill to the point of driving his generals nuts with questions about the details of operations. If anything, the author argues, Lyndon Johnson was not involved enough, failing to question Westmoreland's attrition strategy. Cohen's books will have significant impact and will be debated in U.S. war colleges for years to come. He significantly contributes to the quality of the debate on civil-military relations. He also brings new life to the question: what exactly is the military profession? Huntington and the traditional definition describe it as the management of violence for political ends. Yet many military work their entire careers in support fields which aren't directly related to combat, and even military who spend their entire careers in combat forces often are only in combat a small percentage of their service time. Cohen's discussion on this topic of the essence of the military profession will start a new and much-needed debate on this topic. There are a dozen or so typesetting errors in this edition which confuse the reader. But the big picture is that it's a stellar performance which will impact discussion on the role of the soldier and the statesman for years to come, and is a must read for anyone interested in military affairs, the Civil War, World War II, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, and the future of the civilian-military relationship. As one person commented, if he could recommend one book for President George W. Bush to read in the current terrorist war crisis, this would be it. Trying to save on my book-buying, I read my public library's copy of this book. Then I bought my own copy because it will be a classic referred to again and again in future debates.