“What does it take to make a great general or a great leader in any field? . . . An excellent contribution to the study of leadership among those who make life-and-death decisions in the most challenging situations—one that could well serve as required reading in both military and business schools.”—Kirkus Reviews Throughout his life, Edgar F. “Beau” Puryear has studied America’s top military leaders. In his research for this book, he has sought to discover what allowed them to rise above their contemporaries; what prepared them for the terrible responsibilities they bore as the commanders of our armed forces during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, and on to today; how they are different from you and me. Ultimately, first and foremost, Dr. Puryear discovered that character is the single most important and the most distinctive element shared by these individuals: that character is everything! “Beau Puryear again reaches into his gold mine of research and comes forward with the essence of great generalship. . . . Well-done and a worthy read.”—General Colin L. Powell “We can always learn more about the importance of character to successful leadership. With this book, we do just that.”—General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

A New York Times bestseller! An epic history of the decline of American military leadership—from the bestselling author of Fiasco and Churchill and Orwell. While history has been kind to the American generals of World War II—Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley—it has been less kind to the generals of the wars that followed, such as Koster, Franks, Sanchez, and Petraeus. In The Generals, Thomas E. Ricks sets out to explain why that is. In chronicling the widening gulf between performance and accountability among the top brass of the U.S. military, Ricks tells the stories of great leaders and suspect ones, generals who rose to the occasion and generals who failed themselves and their soldiers. In Ricks’s hands, this story resounds with larger meaning: about the transmission of values, about strategic thinking, and about the difference between an organization that learns and one that fails.

His campaigns, military thought, and insurgent strategy There are many biographies of the Prophet, and they tend to fall into three categories: pious works that emphasize the virtues of the early Islamic community, general works for non-Muslim or non-specialist readers, and source-critical works that grapple with historiographical problems inherent in early Islamic history. In The Generalship of Muhammad, Russ Rodgers charts a new path by merging original sources with the latest in military theory to examine Muhammad's military strengths and weaknesses. Incorporating military, political, and economic analyses, Rodgers focuses on Muhammad’s use of insurgency warfare in seventh-century Arabia to gain control of key cities such as Medina. Seeking to understand the operational aspects of these world-changing battles, he provides battlefield maps and explores the supply and logistic problems that would have plagued any military leader at the time. Rodgers explains how Muhammad organized his forces and gradually built his movement against sporadic resistance from his foes. He draws from the hadith literature to shed new light on the nature of the campaigns. He examines the Prophet's intelligence network and the employment of what would today be called special operations forces. And he considers the possibility that Muhammad received outside support to build and maintain his movement as a means to interdict trade routes between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanid Persians.

Battle in the Civil War is a step-by-step explanation of how the Blue and Gray armies squared up to fight each other; how they maneuvered on the battlefield and what happened when they came to close combat. It is a concise summary of the art of war in that conflict. Military historian Paddy Griffith looks at the problems faced by the commanders in this fascinating conflict and examines in detail how they overcame them. Working closely with illustrator Peter Dennis, Dr. Griffith reveals in a new and exciting way the mechanisms of command, the instruments of victory and of defeat during those four terrible years. This second edition is edited by John Curry as part of the History of Wargaming Project series of books.

After World War I, J F C Fuller stated that the three pillars of generalship (meaning good generalship of course) are "courage, creative intelligence, and physical fitness: and the attributes of youth rather than middle age." The study of character traits and leadership principles dominated our thought and leadership teaching methodology during and after World War II, with role playing and case studies used extensively. Current leadership doctrine for the entire Army is prescribed in Field Manual 6-22, Army Leadership, a publication that relies heavily on historical examples for its message. Since "the foundations of Army leadership are firmly grounded in history," senior leaders must have a core of historical knowledge to give them the perspective necessary to solve the leadership and command challenges of today.

The production of this work is the result of a want which has been long and sensibly felt. Although there are several collections of lives of American officers, there is none which comes down to this period, and none which contains a large number of lives. After the war with Mexico a lively curiosity respecting was awakened regarding the personal history of the officers who have distinguished themselves before that event; and this has led to a fresh desire for general information respecting the military history of the country. To meet this desire the present work has been written. Contents: Colonel Aaron Burr Alexander Hamilton Alexander Macomb Andrew Jackson Andrew Pickens Anthony Wayne Anthony Walton White Arthur St. Clair Baron De Kalb Benedict Arnold Benjamin Lincoln Charles Lee Daniel Morgan David Humphreys David E. Twiggs Eleazar Wheelock Ripley E. Pendleton Gaines Ethan Allen Francis Marion Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben. George Clinton George Croghan George Washington Gideon J. Pillow Gilbert Mottier La Fayette Henry Dearborn Henry Knox Horatio Lloyd Gates Hugh Mercer Isaac Roach Isaac Shelby Israel Putnam Jacob Brown James Clinton Jeremiah Wadsworth John Eager Howard John James John Laurens John A. Quitman John Stark John Sullivan John Trumbull John E. Wool Joseph Reed Joseph Warren Nathanael Greene Nathan Towson Otho H. Williams Peleg Wadsworth Peter B. Porter Philip Schuyler Richard M. Johnson Richard Montgomery. Colonel Seth Warner Thaddeus Kosciusko Thomas Mifflin Thomas Sumpter William Richardson Davie William Eaton William Henry Harrison William Heath William Moultrie William J. Worth Winfield Scott Zachary Taylor Zebulon Butler Zebulon Montgomery Pike