The generals : American military command from World War II to today / Thomas E. Ricks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ricks, Thomas E.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Generals--United States--History--20th century.

Generals.

Command of troops.

History.

History, Military.

United States--History, Military--20th century--Case studies.

United States.

Command of troops--History--20th century--Case studies.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

558 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Penguin Press, 2012.

Summary:

An epic history of the decline of American military leadership from World War II to Iraq.

Contents:

Prologue. Captain William DePuy and the 90th Division in Normandy, summer 1944

pt. 1. World War II. General George G. Marshall : the leader ; Dwight Eisenhower : how the Marshall system worked ; George Patton : the specialist ; Mark Clark : the man in the middle ; "Terrible Terry" Allen : conflict between Marshall and his protégés ; Eisenhower manages Montgomery ; Douglas MacArthur : the general as presidential aspirant ; William Simpson : the Marshall system and the new model American general

pt. 2. The Korean War. William Dean and Douglas MacArthur : two generals self-destruct ; Army generals fail at Chosin ; O. P. Smith succeeds at Choisin ; Ridgway turns the war around ; MacArthur's last stand ; The organization man's Army

Pt. 3. The Vietnam War. Maxwell Taylor : architect of defeat ; William Westmoreland : the organization man in command ; William DePuy : World War II-style generalship in Vietnam ; The collapse of generalship in the 1960s ; Tet '68 : the end of Westmoreland and the turning point of the war ; My Lai : General Koster's cover-up and General Peers's investigation ; The end of a war, the end of an Army

pt. 4. Interwar. DuPuy's great rebuilding ; "How to teach judgment"

pt. 5 nd the hidden costs of rebuilding. Colin Powell, Norman Schwarzkopf, and the empty triumph of the 1991 war ; The ground war : Schwarzkopf vs. Frederick Franks ; The post-Gulf War military ; Tommy R. Franks : two-time loser ; Ricardo Sanchez : over his head ; George Casey : trying but treading water ; David Petraeus : an outlier moves in, then leaves

Epilogue. Restoring American military leadership.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781594204043

1594204047

OCLC:

780480462