Description
Book SynopsisJohn Keegan’s brilliant look at the meaning of leadership
In The Mask of Command, John Keegan asks us to consider questions that are seldom asked: What is the definition of leadership? What makes a great military leader? Why is it that men, indeed sometimes entire nations, follow a single leader, often to victory, but with equal dedication also to defeat?
Dozens of names come to mind...Napoleon, Lee, Charlemagne, Hannibal, Castro, Hussein. From a wide array, Keegan chooses four commanders who profoundly influenced the course of history: Alexander the Great, the Duke of Wellington, Ulysses S. Grant and Adolph Hitler. All powerful leaders, each cast in a different mold, each with diverse results.
The Mask of Command is a companion volume to John Keegan's classic study of the individual soldier, The Face of Battle: together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.
Trade Review“The best military historian of our generation.” –
Tom Clancy “A brilliant treatise on the essence of military leadership.” –
The Philadelphia Inquirer “Fascinating and enlightening… marked by great intellectual liveliness… Mr. Keegan knows how to bring fighting alive on the page.” –
The New York TimesTable of ContentsPart 1 Alexander the Great and Heroic Leadership: Alexander - the Father of the Man; The Achievement; The Kingdom of Macedon; The Macedonian Army; Alexander's Staff; Alexander and his Soldiers; Ceremony and Theatre; Alexander's Oratory; Alexander on the Battlefield; Alexander and the Mask of Command. Part 2 Wellington - The Anti-Hero: Wellington the Man; Wellington and Western Military Society; Wellington's Army; Wellington's Staff; Wellington's Routine; Wellington and the Presentation of Self; Wellington in Battle; Observation and Sensation. Part 3 Grant and Unheroic Leadership: Grant and the Progress of War; The Professional Career of U.S. Grant; Grant's Army; Grant's Staff; Grant on Campaign; Grant the Fighter; Grant and the American Democracy. Part 4 False Heroic - Hitler as Supreme Commander: War and Hitler's World; The War Hitler Made; Hitler's Soldiers; Hitler's Headquarters; Hitler in Command; Hitler and the Theatre of Leadership. Part 5 Conclusion: Post-Heroic - Command in the Nuclear World: The Imperative of Kinship; The Imperative of Prescription; The Imperative of Sanction; The Imperative of Action; The Imperative of Example; The Validation of Nuclear Authority.
