The life and careers of three of the twentieth century’s greatest generals are profiled in Lloyd Clark’s military history, The Commanders: The Leadership Journeys of George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and Erwin Rommel. The three famously clashed (metaphorically in Patton and Montgomery’s case, and literally in Rommel’s) first in North Africa and again in western Europe during World War II. While raised in different environments—Patton was an Angelino, Monty’s family were Irish Protestants living in England, and Rommel was born in a newly unified Germany—all came from fairly privileged backgrounds, with families who were involved in local politics and military service. Clark takes us through their formative years, their combat experience during World War I, how they adapted to the peace time between the two World Wars (not particularly well), and then their leadership during the pinnacle of their military careers. Through it all we see three commanders who loved the military and their men, and weren’t quite sure what to do with themselves when they weren’t on the battlefield.

What sets the three men apart from each other the most, aside from their nationalities, are their personalities. In laymen’s terms, Montgomery was an aristocratic snob and Patton was an crazed lunatic, the former looking down his nose at everyone (including his superiors), and the latter frequently seized by a kind of mania, convinced that it was his destiny to achieve greatness. The two complemented each other, even if they were loath to admit it—one cautious and stoic, the other fiery and impassioned—but both had egos to match their talent. Perhaps the most amusing part of The Commanders is the ongoing theme of Monty and Patton driving Eisenhower up the wall with their antics. Monty liked Eisenhower as a person but thought that he was smarter than him and didn’t understand why Ike was in charge, never quite making the connection that it was because Eisenhower could manage both military operations and people. Patton had a good relationship with his longtime friend, and frequently found himself begging his forgiveness after yet another outburst landed them all in hot water. We also get a glimpse of his complicated relationship with Omar Bradley, another mild-mannered general who both liked Patton and was exhausted by his antics. Fans of Old Blood and Guts will probably be surprised and disappointed to learn that Patton wanted to pardon most of the Nazi commanders, a request Eisenhower vociferously refused. (Forrest Gump fans, by contrast, might be amused to learn that Patton, like Lt. Dan, believed it was his destiny to die in combat and was disappointed when he didn’t.) Clark balances this exploration of the men’s flaws with a clear admiration for their accomplishments.

Then there’s Rommel. Of the three men profiled, the German commander best exemplifies the qualities we might associate will a great general: devoted, intelligent, modest, and reasonable. He was also, however, a Nazi collaborator and a supporter of Adolf Hitler, if not a registered member of the Nazi Party himself. Clark surprisingly downplays this essential part of Rommel’s legacy, preferring instead to focus strictly on his military career. Surprisingly, he does not support the popular belief that Rommel was complicit in an assassination attempt on Hitler’s life, meaning the Fuhrer executed his top general out of sheer paranoia. This also invalidates the strongest defense of Rommel’s service under the Third Reich, which was that he saw the error of his ways and paid the ultimate price for it. The sparse attention given to the general’s politics is in line with the rest of the book, but it may not sit well with readers who do not believe that his role in furthering the Nazi cause should be glossed over.

Character studies aside, this is nevertheless a military history, which will determine whether or not a reader enjoys The Commanders. The descriptions of battle strategies will enthrall military history buffs, but may come across as too dry for anyone less interested in battles than in people. As someone who gravitates towards political and cultural history, there were long stretches of the book where I struggled to maintain interest. Clark writes in a clear and comprehensive way, but how much enjoyment one gets out of The Commanders will ultimately depend on the reader and whether this type of history appeals to them.

An interesting and readable insight into the lives and careers of three of the key military figures in World War Two, and how their characters shaped their actions during this epochal period of world history.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Professor of Modern War Lloyd Clark has taken previously existing knowledge concerning Generals, Patton, Rommel, and Montgomery and compared and contrasted them. How were they alike and dissimilar? What were their backgrounds? How did they fight the war?

This book is a triple biography of three famous generals of World War II. Each chapter is broken into three parts covering each of the generals which makes for interesting reading and easier to follow than individual chapters devoted to each. The author does a good job of relating how each developed their own unique leadership style. A good read for anyone interested in these three individuals.

I received a free ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook and my nonfiction book review blog.

A superlative triple biography of three combat commanders of the Second World War. They had similar experiences in the 1914-1918 unpleasantness that preceded it:. Each was born in the closing decades of the 19th century to a middle- or upper-class family, with Patton's being the richest and most notable. The U.S. Army, however, offered him little in the way of leadership training or combat experience, while Montgomery was groomed by policing the frontiers of the British Empire and Rommel by immersion in the Prussian military tradition and Kaiser Wilhelm's ambitions for German expansion. Each began the First World War as a lieutenant, and each showed great courage in combat, with Patton and Montgomery being wounded while Rommel endured the most grinding warfare on the French, Italian, and Romanian fronts. The Second World War began with Rommel and Montgomery as two-star generals, while Patton was still a colonel in an army only beginning to expanded. Their paths did noT cross until 1943, in Tunisia, by which time Patton too was a major general.

It was August before Monty broke out of Caen, while Patton's Third Army raged through eastern France. To show his contempt, Patton offered to swing left and "drive the British into the sea for another Dunkirk." (Mr Delury doesn't mention this bit of bravado.) Altogether, I find it hard to agree that Montgomery matched the command abilities of Rommel or Patton, but by the summer of 1944 Britain could no longer afford losses on the scale of the previous four years. Mr Delury would have done better to profile Georgy Zhukov as his third great general.

This was an interesting book on leadership in World War 2 and it should definitely take its place with the other biography’s of leaders in this war.