The savior generals : how five great commanders saved wars that were lost, from ancient Greece to Iraq / Victor Davis Hanson.
Material type:
TextPublication details: New York : Bloomsbury Press, 2013.Edition: 1st edDescription: 305 p. : ill., maps ; 25 cmISBN: - 160819163X (hbk.)
- 9781608191635 (hbk.)
- Belisarius, approximately 505-565 -- Military leadership
- Themistocles, approximately 524 B.C.-approximately 459 B.C. -- Military leadership
- Petraeus, David Howell -- Military leadership
- Ridgway, Matthew B. (Matthew Bunker), 1895-1993 -- Military leadership
- Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891 -- Military leadership
- Command of troops -- History
- Generals -- Biography
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 355.0092 H251 | Checked out | 06/18/2024 | 33111007110972 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Leading military historian Victor Davis Hanson returns to non-fiction in The Savior Generals , a set of brilliantly executed pocket biographies of five generals who single-handedly saved their nations from defeat in war. War is rarely a predictable enterprise--it is a mess of luck, chance, and incalculable variables. Today's sure winner can easily become tomorrow's doomed loser. Sudden, sharp changes in fortune can reverse the course of war.
These intractable circumstances are sometimes mastered by leaders of genius--asked at the eleventh hour to save a hopeless conflict, created by others, often unpopular with politics and the public. These savior generals often come from outside the established power structure, employ radical strategies, and flame out quickly. Their careers often end in controversy. But their dramatic feats of leadership are vital slices of history--not merely as stirring military narrative, but as lessons onthe dynamic nature of consensus, leadership, and destiny.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Athens is burning: Themistocles at Salamis-September 480 B.C. -- Byzantium at the brink: the fireman Flavius Belisarius-A.D. 527-559 -- "Atlanta is ours and fairly won": William Tecumseh Sherman's gift to Abraham Lincoln-summer 1864 -- 100 days in Korea: Matthew Ridgway takes over-winter 1950-51 -- Iraq is "lost": David Petraeus and the surge in Iraq-January 2007-May 2008.
Traces the stories of Themistocles, Belisarius, William Tecumseh Sherman, Matthew Ridgway, and David Petraeus, evaluating their pivotal military roles and the controversies that marked their careers.