Flocken, J. v. Kriegerleben

From Caesar to Patton - Great commanders of world history. A diminutive castrato, a 17-year-old boy, a farmer with no military experience and an ageing staff officer who had led no more than one company in 50 years of service - no one had reason to see in these men any outstanding military talent. And yet Narses, King Charles XII of Sweden, Oliver Cromwell and Helmuth von Moltke eventually proved to be great strategists. Even a man like Caesar, who until the age of 42 had been more conspicuous for his political and sexual affairs, rose above himself in the hours of probation. Most of the time, the commanders described in this book had to attack with vastly inferior forces, such as Admiral Reinhard Scheer in the naval battle of Skagerrak in 1916. But strategic foresight, tactical skill and high personal commitment brought them great victories time and again, from Roman antiquity to the Second World War. 248 pages.