The Mask of Command

by JohnKeegan (Author)

• Used

  Illustrated
  1988

  $3.86

  A wide-ranging, forceful, and fascinating analysis of generals - who they are, what they do, and how they affect the world we live in. Its central argument is that, like warfare itself, generalship is a cultural activity, providing a key to understanding a particular place or era, as much as it is an exercise in power or military skill. Other books by the same author include: The Face Of Battle , Who's Who In Military History and The Nature of War .

• Used

  Paperback
  1999

  $3.36

  Most studies of generalship have focused on individual character and behaviour. While these are not neglected in this remarkable book, its central argument is that, like warfare itself, generalship is a cultural enterprise, providing a key to understanding a particular era or place, as much as it is an exercise in power or military skill. Through portraits of four generals - archetypal hero Alexander the Great, anti-hero Wellington, the unheroic Ulysses S. Grant and the false heroic of Hitler - John Keegan propounds the view of heroism in warfare as inextricably linked with the political imperative of the age and place. He demonstrates how the role of the general alters with the ethos of the society that creates him and concludes that there is no place for heroism in a nuclear world. The Mask of Command is a companion to John Keegan's classic study of the individual soldier, The Face of Battle together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1987

  $3.36

• New

  Paperback
  2004

  $17.51

  The Mask of Command is about generals: who they are, what they do and how they affect the world we live in. Through portraits of four generals - archetypal hero Alexander the Great, anti-hero Wellington, the unheroic Ulysses S. Grant and the false heroic of Hitler - John Keegan propounds the view of heroism in warfare as inextricable linked with the political imperative of the age and place. He demonstrates how the role of the general alters with the ethos of the society that creates him and concludes that there is no place for heroism in a nuclear world. 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.