Michael E. Haskew

Michael Haskew's book is less an analysis of Charles de Gaulle's leadership style than it is a compact overview of the French leader's life with a concentration on his military career. In it, Haskew details de Gaulle's service in the French army, his experience in both world wars, and his relationship with other key contemporaries, most notably Philippe Pétain. Haskew writes well, and peppers his text with insightful anecdotes that are both engaging and illustrative of his subject. Yet show more perhaps because of its presence in a series on "great generals" the book is based on a flawed premise: though de Gaulle spent over three decades in uniform, he was a general in direct command of French army units for only a few weeks before he transitioned to the more political role of leader of the Free French. This Haskew does cover as well, but then he glosses over the postwar era in which de Gaulle created a political movement and served as president of France for a decade. To glance over de Gaulle's more significant role as a politician in a book ostensibly dealing with his leadership is inexcusable, and limits the value of Haskew's book as a study of his fascinating subject. Readers seeking an introduction to de Gaulle's life and career would be far better served by reading Julian Jackson's [b:de Gaulle|900723|de Gaulle|Julian T. Jackson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1179295090s/900723.jpg|885904], which in terms of coverage and analysis is everything Haskew's book is not. show less

An interesting look into Airborne training and ops during WWII. Of particular note that while short the Pacific Theater of Operations were not ignored in this title. The text is rather average but the author does a great job of incorporating first hand accounts into the book, something often missing from the shorter titles on WWII.

The images themselves is where the book shines, easily 85% of the photos I had never seen before. The rest were of course the very popular images most folks who show more are interested in WWII have seen.

All in all a solid book that's great for an afternoon read. show less

As a 1980's West Point grad, I enjoyed reading this book. A lot of the book was dedicated to the well known 1915 grads, but it did not neglect other lesser known grads. By and large, I found it well researched. I enjoyed reading about the past connections of various graduates at the Academy or during their military service. Some of the Academy descriptions were familiar (if not nostalgic).

This is a 'coffee table' history book. By that I mean its meant to sit on your coffee table for people to pick up and look at the pictures and be impressed that you have a history book. However, if you actually want to learn something, this is worse than 'History for Dummies'. The fact that these battles occurred and the dates are about all you can get out of it. The information on the disasters is incomplete, at times confusing and misleading and sometimes inaccurate, the maps aren't much show more better though they look nice. Just don't bother. show less