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This anthology was inspired by its authors and the Soldiers and Marines they lead. Their experiences and reflections appear in this volume, a collection of battle studies that focus on leadership success, and failure, in the great campaigns of the last 150 years. From brigade to army group level, these lessons in battle command speak across the decades to the key questions of success in war. The authors are soldier-scholars of the first rank, some of whom are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan today and will rise to lead our military in tomorrow’s battles and campaigns. This volume includes detailed chapters on the engagements and battles below: When Mars Smiled: The Field of Mars-la-Tour Ghosts of Tannenberg -German I Corps in East Prussia, August 1914 “Lighthorse!” The Australians Take Beersheba White Death Coming: The Battle of Suomussalmi “Stout Hearts and a Worthy Cause” - The Battle of Sidi Barrani The Road to Bizerte: The 9th Division Comes of Age “Hang On! We Are Coming!” - The Relief of Chipyong-Ni “We Are Crossing Into Africa” - Adan’s Division Triumphs in Sinai Setting Sun of Empire -Goose Green: The Stuff of Instant Legend
"Sing Goddess, of the wrath of Achilles, Peleus' son." So begins the Iliad, the greatest war epic in western culture. Since the dawn of recorded history, the history of man has been nearly synonymous with the history of war, a history that begins with Homer and continues today. Then as now, war remains the ultimate arbiter of human affairs, an awful and ever-present reminder of humanity's failure to escape its wrathful roots. Seemingly inescapable, war is supremely important because it is the great destroyer of states and populations and whole cultures. And so the question itself is crucial to the survival of the state. What matters most in battle? There are many answers. Population, industrial capacity, economic power and the civil and military institutions of the state all play their roles. But in the end, leadership may loom largest. War is perhaps the most complicated and demanding of all human endeavors. Any junior leader who has attempted to move a small unit over rough terrain at night, avoiding enemy outposts, deploy into a combat formation and assault a position knows intuitively that fog and friction are masters of the battlefield. Multiply those problems a thousandfold and the challenges of battle command at higher levels begin to take shape. Throw in the emotional and psychic elements inherent in command during war and its daunting demands now appear in high relief. Battle command, particularly of higher formations, is extraordinarily complex, like brain surgery under fire. In all of history, only a relative few have mastered it. Others have been skilled practitioners, though they may have lacked the spark of genius-what Napoleon called "coup d'oeil"-that marks the great captains. Only the chosen few will succeed. But they will make history. This anthology was inspired by its authors and the Soldiers and Marines they lead. They have succeeded brilliantly in translating the reality of combat to a rising generation of combat leaders. Many were moved to delve deeply into military history as the wellspring of their profession, even as they fought America's wars and half-wars and rose to command themselves. Their experiences and reflections appear in this volume, a collection of battle studies that focus on leadership success, and failure, in the great campaigns of the last 150 years. From brigade- to army-group level, these lessons in battle command speak across the decades to the key questions of success in war. The authors are soldier-scholars of the first rank, some of whom are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan today and will rise to lead our military in tomorrow's battles and campaigns.
"Sing Goddess, of the wrath of Achilles, Peleus' son." So begins the Iliad, the greatest war epic in western culture. Since the dawn of recorded history, the history of man has been nearly synonymous with the history of war, a history that begins with Homer and continues today. Then as now, war remains the ultimate arbiter of human affairs, an awful and ever-present reminder of humanity's failure to escape its wrathful roots.
Battle command, particularly of higher formations, is extraordinarily complex, like brain surgery under fire. In all of history, only a relative few have mastered it. Others have been skilled practitioners, though they may have lacked the spark of genius - what Napoleon called "coup d'oeil" - that marks the great captains. Only the chosen few will succeed. But they will make history. This anthology was inspired by its authors and the Soldiers and Marines they lead. They have succeeded brilliantly in translating the reality of combat to a rising generation of combat leaders. Many were moved to delve deeply into military history as the wellspring of their profession, even as they fought America's wars and half-wars and rose to command themselves. Their experiences and reflections appear in this volume, a collection of battle studies that focus on leadership success, and failure, in the great campaigns of the last 150 years. From brigade- to army-group level, these lessons in battle command speak across the decades to the key questions of success in war. The authors are soldier-scholars of the first rank, some of whom are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan today and will rise to lead our military in tomorrow's battles and campaigns. Today, in Afghanistan and Iraq, America is re-learning a central lesson: in the end, wars are fought and won on the ground, in the mud, not by superior machines but by tough Soldiers and Marines enabled by superior battle command. That is not likely to change. America's military must always have a ready answer to the question "can you fight?" If this volume spurs any young commander to pick up his Homer and read about war, the labors of its authors will be amply rewarded.
“A leadership book written by a real leader! . . . eminently useful for those ‘in command’ of organizations of any kind. A stimulating five-star work” (Ralph Peters, New York Times–bestselling author). This book tells the dramatic story of seven defining leadership moments from the American Revolution, as well as providing case studies that can improve your leadership at home, business, in your community, in the military, or in government. Leadership is not about position, it is about influence. You can be a leader no matter what your rank or position. It is not about power, it is about selflessness. You cannot be a good leader unless you can also be a good follower. Good leaders don’t shine, they reflect. Lessons like these are the core of this book. The stories in this book are about leaders who were challenged at all corners, adapted, improvised and overcame. The tales of leaders like Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Henry Knox, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington, to name a few, are stories you will want to know and tell. These leaders knew how to push teams to succeed under the toughest conditions. These stories will come alive on the pages of this book to fuel your leadership fire and make you a better leader in any endeavor. Learn how they secured our liberty so you can transform today into a better tomorrow. “John Antal has captured seven timeless stories that will raise your leadership awareness and make you a better leader in peace or war, at home, at work or in your community.” —Steven Pressfield, bestselling author of 36 Righteous Men
When Omar Nelson Bradley began his military career more than a century ago, the army rode horses into combat and had less than 200,000 men. No one had heard of mustard gas. At the height of his career, Bradley (known as “Brad” and “The GI’s General”) led 1.23 million men as commander of 12 Army Group in the Western Front to bring an end to World War II. Omar Nelson Bradley was the youngest and last of nine men to earn five-star rank and the only army officer so honored after World War II. This new biography by Steven L. Ossad gives an account of Bradley’s formative years, his decorated career, and his postwar life. Bradley’s decisions shaped the five Northwest European Campaigns from the D-Day landings to VE Day. As the man who successfully led more Americans in battle than any other in our history, his long-term importance would seem assured. Yet his name is not discussed often in the classrooms of either civilian or military academies, either as a fount of tactical or operational lessons learned, or a source of inspiration for leadership exercised at Corps, Army, Group, Army Chief, or Joint Chiefs of Staff levels. The Bradley image was tailor-made for the quintessential homespun American heroic ideal and was considered by many to be a simple, humble country boy who rose to the pinnacle of power through honesty, hard work, loyalty and virtuous behavior. Even though his classmates in both high school and at West Point made remarks about his looks, and Bradley was always self-conscious about smiling because of an accident involving his teeth, he went on to command 12 Army Group, the largest body of American fighting men under a single general. Bradley’s postwar career as administrator of the original GI Bill and first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Korean War ensures his legacy. These latter contributions, as much as Bradley’s demonstrable World War II leadership, shaped U.S. history and culture in decisive, dramatic, and previously unexamined ways. Drawing on primary sources such as those at West Point, Army War College and Imperial War Museum, this book focuses on key decisions, often through the eyes of eyewitness and diarist, British liaison officer Major Thomas Bigland. The challenges our nation faces sound familiar to his problems: fighting ideologically-driven enemies across the globe, coordinating global strategy with allies, and providing care and benefits for our veterans.
"Spectacular and constantly surprising." -Ken Burns Written with the authority of a scholar and the vigor of a bestselling narrative historian, The War That Killed Achilles is a superb and utterly timely presentation of one of the timeless stories of Western civilization. As she did in The Endurance and The Bounty, New York Times bestselling author Caroline Alexander has taken apart a narrative we think we know and put it back together in a way that lets us see its true power. In the process, she reveals the intended theme of Homer's masterwork-the tragic lessons of war and its enduring devastation.
Back in print for the first time in decades, Auden’s National Book Award–winning poetry collection, in a critical edition that introduces it to a new generation of readers The Shield of Achilles, which won the National Book Award in 1956, may well be W. H. Auden’s most important, intricately designed, and unified book of poetry. In addition to its famous title poem, which reimagines Achilles’s shield for the modern age, when war and heroism have changed beyond recognition, the book also includes two sequences—“Bucolics” and “Horae Canonicae”—that Auden believed to be among his most significant work. Featuring an authoritative text and an introduction and notes by Alan Jacobs, this volume brings Auden’s collection back into print for the first time in decades and offers the only critical edition of the work. As Jacobs writes in the introduction, Auden’s collection “is the boldest and most intellectually assured work of his career, an achievement that has not been sufficiently acknowledged.” Describing the book’s formal qualities and careful structure, Jacobs shows why The Shield of Achilles should be seen as one of Auden’s most central poetic statements—a richly imaginative, beautifully envisioned account of what it means to live, as human beings do, simultaneously in nature and in history.
This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. The fact that the outcome of the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War was, at best, a stalemate for Israel has confounded military analysts. Long considered the most professional and powerful army in the Middle East, with a history of impressive military victories against its enemies, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) emerged from the campaign with its enemies undefeated and its prestige tarnished. This historical analysis of the war includes an examination of IDF and Hezbollah doctrine prior to the war, as well as an overview of the operational and tactical problems encountered by the IDF during the war. The IDF ground forces were tactically unprepared and untrained to fight against a determined Hezbollah force. ¿An insightful, comprehensive examination of the war.¿ Illustrations.