Brief description
Churchill's Generals is a distinguished anthology of military history compiled and edited by the renowned British historian John Keegan. Acting as a companion piece to Hitler's Generals, the book evaluates the high-stakes, often turbulent relationships between Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the top British military commanders tasked with winning World War II.The Core PremiseThe foundational...
Read full descriptionEvery copy is individually graded
Each option is one physical pre-owned copy. Condition notes describe the copy you will receive.
About this book
Churchill's Generals is a distinguished anthology of military history compiled and edited by the renowned British historian John Keegan. Acting as a companion piece to Hitler's Generals, the book evaluates the high-stakes, often turbulent relationships between Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the top British military commanders tasked with winning World War II.
The Core Premise
The foundational theme of the book is that Churchill’s legacy and public standing fluctuated drastically based on the battlefield victories and defeats of his field commanders. While the public viewed these generals as household heroes, behind closed doors they were constantly subjected to Churchill’s intense micromanagement, legendary irascibility, and unyielding interference. Churchill possessed an burning desire to act simultaneously as a macro strategic visionary and the de facto general in the field. Consequently, he fired underperforming commanders ruthlessly. Yet, despite this high turnover, he eventually curated and relied upon some of the most brilliant military minds in British history.
Structural Breakdown: The Strategic Intro: The volume opens with a foundational essay by John Keegan. It details Churchill’s rapid ascension to wartime Prime Minister and dissects his unique, aggressive philosophy on global conflict: Biographical Profiles: Written by a selected team of prominent academic historians, the book is broken into individual chapters profiling 17 specific generals. Rather than uncritical praise, these essays offer objective, flawed portraits of how each man reacted to the crucible of 1940s warfare.
Key Figures Explored The book chronologically tracks the evolution of Britain's military leadership across different phases of the war: The Early Hurdles: Profiles on figures like Ironside, Gort, and Dill, who—despite their capabilities—found themselves unsuited by age or strategic temperament for the sheer brutality and speed of early blitzkrieg warfare: The High Command: The pivotal transition to Alanbrooke (Chief of the Imperial General Staff), who became the ultimate, indispensable counterweight to Churchill's impulsive strategic whims: The Desert & Global Commanders: Analytical deep-dives into the operational successes and tragic shortfalls of field leaders across the Mediterranean, European, and Pacific theatres, including Wavell, Auchinleck, Montgomery, Alexander, Slim, Percival, and Wingate.
Non-Fiction: Military: Keegan
Buying pre-owned books
Every physical copy has a grade and its own condition note. Choose the copy you want on the product page and read that note before adding it to your cart.
Our grades run from As New through to Binding Copy. They provide a quick overall guide, while the condition note records the wear or damage specific to that copy.
Because our books are pre-owned, sales are generally final. If your book arrives in a condition that is significantly different from its description, please contact us so we can help.
New Zealand orders of $40 or more receive free shipping. For smaller orders, Christchurch delivery to postcodes beginning with 8 is $5, metro New Zealand delivery is $9, and rural New Zealand delivery is $14.
If your address is rural, please choose the rural delivery option at checkout.
We currently ship to Australia for a flat rate of $37. We do not currently ship to other countries.
Yes. Choose local pickup at checkout and collect from 9 Penbury St, Waltham, Christchurch 8023. Pickup orders are usually ready within 24 hours, and we will email you when your order is ready.
Check our current store hours before visiting.
We ship with NZ Post. Standard delivery usually takes 3–5 working days, with rural delivery sometimes taking a little longer. We will email your tracking number after dispatch.
