Books like Commanders by R. G. Grant

General Jim Mattis shares the lessons he learned through three wars and a quarter‑million‑troop command, showing how clear leadership can guide both soldiers and states toward decisive, strategic victory.

John Keegan offers a visceral, on‑the‑frontline view of combat, comparing three iconic battles—Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme—to reveal the physical, emotional, and motivational realities soldiers face.

A collection of biographical sketches of general-grade officers from World War II to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, exploring the evolution of the Army's approach to generalship and the negative impact on leadership and battle performance.

More than 60 years after their utter defeat and surrender, the Nazi army, navy, and air force are still remembered as the best organized, best trained, best equipped, and most formidable fighting forces of their day. The same can be said of the massive German army that battled under Kaiser Wilhelm a generation earlier. Led by brilliant generals and backed by state-of-the-art munitions industries, these powerful military organizations struck terror in the hearts of enemies and allies alike. So, why did they lose? In this masterful account of the failed German war machine, military historian Kenneth Macksey reveals that Germany's catastrophic failures had little to do with the random fortunes of war, but were the inevitable result of its military structure, leadership, and history. Its great strengths -- inspired generals and strategists, the innovative development of military forces, and the great skill and tenacity of its fighting men -- were repeatedly undermined by short-term war policies, arrogance and a tendency to believe its own propaganda, and the politicization of military staffs. These flaws, problematic even in Germany's great 19th century victories, became fatal when combined with 20th century dreams of world dominion. Complete with campaign maps, command-structure charts, and lists of major German military leaders, Why the Germans Lose at War combines brilliant military and political analysis with a powerful cautionary tale for any nation that seeks to rule the world through force alone. - Jacket flap.

From a gladiator to a renegade conquistador to England's greatest warrior-king -- six men who changed the course of history. In the history of warfare, an elite group of men have attained legendary status through their courage, ambition, and unrivaled military genius. But many of these same men possessed deep personal character flaws. In Heroes and Villains acclaimed historian Frank McLynn focuses on six of the most powerful and magnetic leaders of all time: Spartacus, Attila the Hun, Richard the Lionheart, Cortes, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Napoleon. How did these mortal men rise to positions of seemingly invincible power? What were the motives, the personal strength, or more often weaknesses, that drove them to achieve what no one else dared? In six powerful portraits, McLynn brilliantly evokes the critical moments when each of these warriors proved his mettle in battle, changing their own lives, the destiny of their people, and in some cases, the history of the world. We discover what drove Spartacus to take on the might of Rome against seemingly impossible odds, and how the young Napoleon rose to power in dramatic fasion at the Siege of Toulon. Heroes and Villains is more than a collection of individual biographies. By examining the complex psychologies of these extraordinary men, Frank McLynn builds up a convincing profile of the ultimate warrior. - Jacket flap.

Who's Who in Military History looks at those people who have shaped the course of war. Broad in geographical and chronological scope, it concentrates on all the periods and conflicts about which the reader is likely to want information, up to and including the Persian Gulf War. It provides detailed biographies of the most interesting and important figures in military history from 1453 to the present day, a series of maps showing the main theatres of war, a glossary of common words and phrases, an accessible and user-friendly A-Z layout, and a unique and invaluable source of information for the student and general reader alike.