Friday, 15 March 2013

The General - CS Forester



Title: The General
Author: C.S. Forester
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 234

Content: This classic challenges the reader to look beyond the obvious and to see how environment plays a critical role in the development of leaders. It traces the career of a 19th/20th century British officer paying particular attention to the period of the First World War. His experiences, both military and civilian, play a pivotal role in how he conducts himself in the horror of trench warfare, how he looks at tactics and his understanding and comfort with new innovation. It is easy to write him off as a typical leader of his time, narrowly focussed and arrogant, but that would miss the critical advantages these traits provided him while at the same time severely handicapping his leadership ability. Nothing is as easy or as clear as it seems at first blush and this study is one of the finest examples of this for the military leader.

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