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An exhilarating and uplifting account of the lives of sixteen 'warriors' from the last three centuries, hand-picked for their bravery or extraordinary military experience by the eminent military historian, author and ex-editor of the Daily Telegraph, Sir Max Hastings. Over the course of forty years of writing about war, Max Hastings has grown fascinated by outstanding deeds of derring-do on the battlefield (land, sea or air) - and by their practitioners. He takes as his examples sixteen people from different nationalities in modern history - including Napoleon's 'blessed fool' Baron Marcellin de Marbot (the model for Conan Doyle's Brigadier Gerard); Sir Harry Smith, whose Spanish wife Juana became his military companion on many a campaign in the early 19th-century; Lieutenant John Chard, an unassuming engineer who became the hero of Rorke's Drift in the Zulu wars; and Squadron Leader Guy Gibson, the 'dam buster' whose heroism in the skies of World War II earned him the nation's admiration, but few friends. Every army, in order to prevail on the battlefield, needs a certain number of people capable of courage beyond the norm. In this book Max Hastings investigates what this norm might be - and how it has changed over the centuries. While celebrating feats of outstanding valour, he also throws a beady eye over the awarding of medals for gallantry - and why it is that so often the most successful warriors rarely make the grade as leaders of men.… (more)
User reviews
But the best thing about this book is simply that it tells gripping stories about some fascinating men and women.
Now, when I obtained this book, I noticed a particular reader complain that the book seemed disjointed and rambling, especially when compared with his other works (none of which I've read yet). So, I didn't have that point of comparison; however, I think that LACK of familiarity with Hastings' other work freed me to enjoy the book for what it really was: An eminent contemporary historian-a titan in his field-share his favorite war stories.
Was it always clear why he had chosen this narrative over that or related this incident in detail while briefly summarizing another encounter? No. Was there some sort of easily-discernible progression? No.
But the book SUCCEEDS. Hastings wends his way through the history of modern warfare much the way a master gardener would pick a fresh bouquet for the dinner table. Variety is the source of beauty. It's the COLLAGE of stories as a whole that creates the book's impact and power.
And it shows us a historian with a heart. Hastings' is not a teller of events but an observer of people and I daresay a trained psychoanalyst couldn't do a finer job of exploring the psyche of the warrior and/or using such an exploration to delve into the highest values and dearest virtues that define human idealism.
A fine, fine read for both the student of history and the student of humanity.