David Petraeus

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Adrian Goldsworthy

"This book looks at Rome's greatest generals, and at how and why they won their victories. At the same time it tells the story of Roman warfare, from the bitter struggle with Carthage and the brilliant Hannibal in the third century BC to the last desperate attempt to win back the Western Empire in the sixth century AD. It also traces the evolution of the Roman army and the Roman political system which directed it. Yet always the main focus rests on the commanders themselves and on their skills as leaders - on men such as Scipio Africanus, who combined apparent mysticism with iron determination, on Marius the tough soldiers' general, on Pompey the flamboyant 'Roman Alexander', and Caesar the aggressive and charismatic aristocrat."--Jacket.

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Tom Clancy

Marine general Tony Zinni was known as the "Warrior Diplomat" during his nearly forty years of service. His credentials as a soldier were impeccable, whether he was leading troops in Vietnam, commanding hair-raising rescue operations in Somalia, or - as Commander in Chief of CENTCOM - directing strikes against Iraq and Al Qaeda. But it was as a peacemaker that he made just as great a mark - conducting dangerous troubleshooting missions all over Africa, Asia, and Europe, and then serving as Secretary of State Colin Powell's special envoy to the Middle East, before disagreements over the 2003 Iraq war and its probable aftermath caused him to resign." Battle Ready follows the evolution of both General Zinni and the Marine Corps, from the cauldron of Vietnam through the operational revolution of the '70s and '80s, to the new realities of the post-Cold War, post-9/11 military - a military with a radically different tools for accomplishing it. Opinions differ sharply about just what that job and those tools should be - and General Zinni makes it clear where he stands.

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Geoffrey P. Megargee

"Inside Hitler's High Command reveals that while Hitler was the central figure in many military decisions, his generals were equal partners in Germany's catastrophic defeat.". "Megargee exposes the structure, processes, and personalities that governed the Third Reich's military decision making and shows how Germany's presumed battlefield superiority was undermined by poor strategic and operational planning at the highest levels. His study tracks the evolution of German military leadership under the Nazis from 1933 to 1945 and expands our understanding of the balance of power within the high command, the role of personalities in its organizational development, and the influence of German military intellectuals on its structure and function. He also shows how the organization of the high command was plagued by ambition, stubbornness, political intrigue, and overworked staff officers. And his "a week in the life" chapter puts the high command under a magnifying glass to reveal its inner workings during the fierce fighting on the Russian Front in December 1941."--BOOK JACKET.

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David C. King

Reviews the military career of the man who, at the start of the Civil War, refused an offer to take command of all Union armies and, instead, became a hero of the Confederacy.