On War and Leadership: The Words of Combat Commanders from Frederick the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf

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Princeton University Press, 10 янв. 2009 г. - Всего страниц: 360

What can we learn about leadership and the experience of war from the best combat leaders the world has ever known? This book takes us behind the scenes and to the front lines of the major wars of the past 250 years through the words of twenty combat commanders. What they have to say--which is remarkably similar across generational, national, and ideological divides--is a fascinating take on military history by those who lived it. It is also worthwhile reading for anyone, from any walk of life, who makes executive decisions.


The leaders showcased here range from Frederick the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf. They include such diverse figures as Napoleon Bonaparte, commanders on both sides of the Civil War (William Tecumseh Sherman and Stonewall Jackson), German and American World War II generals (Rommel and Patton), a veteran of the Arab-Israeli wars (Moshe Dayan), and leaders from both sides of the Vietnam War (Vo Nguyen Giap and Harold Moore). What they have had in common is an unrivaled understanding of the art of command and a willingness to lead from the front. All earned the respect and loyalty of those they led--and moved them to risk death.


The practices of these commanders apply to any leadership situation, whether military, business, political, athletic, or other. Their words reveal techniques for anticipating the competition, leading through example, taking care of the "troops," staying informed, turning bad luck to advantage, improvising, and making bold decisions.


Leader after leader emphasizes the importance of up-front "muddy boots" leadership and reveals what it takes to persevere and win. Identifying a pattern of proven leadership, this book will benefit anyone who aspires to lead a country, a squadron, a company, or a basketball team. It is a unique distillation of two and a half centuries of military wisdom.

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Introduction
1
Frederick the Great 17131786 and Napoleon 17691821
9
II William Tecumseh Sherman 18201891
20
III Stonewall Jackson 18241863
33
IV John Singleton Mosby 18331916
52
Lawrence of Arabia
69
VI Archibald Percival Wavell 18831950
89
VII Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel 18911945
101
XII William Joseph Slim 18911970
158
XIII Joseph Warren Vinegar Joe Stilwell 18831946
168
XIV Matthew Bunker Ridgway 18951993
172
XV Moshe Dayan 19151981
180
XVI Vo Nguyen Giap 1911
193
XVII Harold G Moore 1924
213
Vaux and the Happy Warriors of 42 Commando
237
XIX H Norman Schwarzkopf 1934
257

VIII George S Patton Jr 18851945
112
IX Charles de Gaulle 18901970
133
X Erich von Manstein 18871973
137
XI Bernard Law Montgomery 18871976
148
Conclusions
277
Notes
285
Index
337
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Стр. 34 - They are the world's gossips, pick up and retail the camp scandal, and gradually drift to the headquarters of some general, who finds it easier to make reputation at home than with his own corps or division. They are also tempted to prophesy events and state facts which, to an enemy, reveal a purpose in time to guard against it. Moreover, they are always bound to see facts colored by the partisan or political character of their own patrons, and thus bring army officers into the political controversies...
Стр. 38 - Whilst great credit is due to other parts of our gallant army, God made my brigade more instrumental than any other in repulsing the main attack. 9 This is for your information only-say nothing about it. Let others speak praise, not myself.
Стр. 79 - We must also arrange the minds of the enemy, so far as we could reach them; then those other minds of the nation supporting us behind the firing line, since more than half the battle passed there in the back; then the minds of the enemy nation waiting the verdict; and of the neutrals looking on; circle beyond circle.
Стр. 92 - The general must know how to get his men their rations and every other kind of stores needed for war. He must have imagination to originate plans, practical sense and energy to carry them through. He must be observant, untiring, shrewd; kindly and cruel; simple and crafty; a watchman and a robber; lavish and miserly; generous and stingy; rash and conservative. All these and many other qualities, natural and acquired, he must have. He should also, as a matter of course, know his tactics; for a disorderly...
Стр. 74 - They were in wild spirits, shouting that the war might last ten years. It was the fattest time the hills had ever known. The Sherif was feeding not only the fighting men, but their families, and paying two pounds a month for a man, four for a camel. Nothing else would have performed the miracle of keeping a tribal army in the field for five months on end.
Стр. 37 - ... overcome him, never let up in the pursuit so long as your men have strength to follow; for an army routed, if hotly pursued, becomes panic-stricken, and can then be destroyed by half their number. The other rule is, never fight against heavy odds, if by any possible manoeuvring you can hurl your own force on only a part, and that the weakest part, of your enemy and crush it. Such tactics will win every time, and a small army may thus destroy a large one in detail, and repeated victory will make...
Стр. 52 - We have now entered upon a new phase of the struggle. Relieved from the necessity of guarding particular points, our army will be free to move from point to point, to strike the enemy in detail far from his base.
Стр. 34 - Newspaper correspondents with an army, as a rule, are mischievous. They are the world's gossips, pick up and retail the camp scandal, and gradually drift to the headquarters of some general, who finds it easier to make reputation at home than with his own corps or division. They are also tempted to prophesy events and state facts which, to an enemy, reveal a purpose in time to guard against it.
Стр. 128 - Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.
Стр. 27 - Each soldier should, if not actually " sick or wounded," carry his musket and equipments containing from forty to sixty rounds of ammunition, his shelter-tent, a blanket or overcoat, and an extra pair of pants, socks, and drawers, in the form of a scarf, worn from the left shoulder to the right side in lieu of knapsack, and in his haversack he should carry some bread, cooked meat, salt, and coffee.

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Об авторе (2009)

Owen Connelly is the McKissick Dial Professor of History at the University of South Carolina. An ex-captain of U.S. Army Rangers, he did two years' duty in the Korean War and was later executive officer of the Rangers' Amphibious and Jungle Warfare Training Camp in Florida. He was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, in 1989 and 1995. His many books include Napoleon's Satellite Kingdoms, The Gentle Bonaparte, The Epoch of Napoleon, Blundering to Glory, and the widely used text French Revolution and Napoleonic Era.

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