The Full Monty Vol 1: Montgomery of Alamein 1887-1942

by Nigel Hamilton

In October 1942 one of the most important battles in modern history was fought. For more than three years the Axis armies had seemed invincible. Now, in the Egyptian desert, they had been decisively beaten. The opening phase of the Second World War was over. The architect of this triumph was an almost unknown British general, Bernard Montgomery. Nigel Hamilton's award-winning three-volume official life, "Monty", worked within the constraints of the time and circumstances under which it was written. Now, at last, he is able to present us with "The Full Monty", based on new sources and a new interpretation of Monty's legendary ability to inspire young men on the field of battle. The story (the first of two volumes) is an extraordinarily rich and fascinating one revealing a withdrawn, stubborn, difficult individual who remained both highly characteristic of the Imperial tradition in which he was raised and yet utterly revolutionary in his criticism of that world. With immense skill Hamilton shows how Montgomery's repressed homosexuality was the key to his behaviour - homosexuality that distanced him from the conventional world which surrounded him, yet which made him uniquely value the welfare and lives of the soldiers under his care. Hamilton gives a superb re-creation of the worlds in which Montgomery lived: Tasmania, the Western Front 1914-18, the uneasy Imperial Britain, Egypt, India and Palestine of the 1920s and 1930s, the coming of the Second World War, the disasters of Dunkirk and Dieppe, and finally the bloody Allied victory of El Alamein. In re-examining Montgomery's life, Hamilton believes that we must now see him in terms of his ability to forge a unique relationship with the men under his command - a revolutioanry approach that put paid to the butchery and bungling of the First World War, and laid the foundations of successful battlefield leadership in modern democracy. Hamilton's powerful biography gives us a gripping and unflinching portrait of one of Britain's greatest heroes. This is, in all manner of ways, "The Full Monty".

Genres: History, Military History, Military Fiction

960 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2001

About the author

Nigel Hamilton is an award-winning British-born biographer, academic and broadcaster, whose works have been translated into sixteen languages.

Reviews

[Jemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and no holds barred biography. There's a detailedand fair analysis here of a difficult and controversial figure. It launches straight into was he gay and mostly, keeps your attention thereafter. You won't be expecting his school experience.

We get his odd and hard childhood; his ferocious intelligence; problems with a military hierarchy more interested in clubability than effectiveness; a restatement of the case against Haig; courting; family life; Dunkirk; the invasion threat and a detailed analysis of El Alamein. All infused with the theory that Monty's love of men, but apparently not sex with men, made him a better general.

All in all its an entertaining, enlightening and persuasive biography. What it isn't is what the title purports to be. This is not the "full Monty" because it ends after El Alamein. Given that this misses most of his career and the great controversies, such as Caen and Arnhem, it really can't be considered complete.

Essentially we get a persuasive defence of Monty, which doesn't shy away from the unattractiveness of the man. Yet it misses out evidence which appears to be damning and on which this biographer's opinion on would've been interesting.

Tantalisingly there are glimpses of how good the rest of the story could've been. There are various interesting occasions where Monty's postwar attitude towards decriminalisation are raised. More of that sort of thing would've been great too

Which brings me to my other criticism that there is too much repetition. This is a great account even without the missing second half but it could've been about 500 pages, rather than over 700, with judicious editing.

[Matthew Hilton]

Here is what I just sent to the author:

Hello there Nigel - I’m just doing a final draft of BOMB my story of growing up in London under the shadow of the H Bomb and I’d like you to know I am being helped immensely by your “The Full Monty”.

I don’t know what was happening in your personal life in America when this book was going thru its final stages but an editor it certainly does not seem to have had! And whose idea was it to present the text in oddly titled bite-size chunks?

It shows all the signs of inexperience and lack of discipline with cut and paste that our generation is prone to: repetition, truncated phrases, incoherence, wild swings of tone and so on - all most useful to me as a cautionary tale.

You will tell me of course that the book is a cunning simulacrum of British military leadership at the time - the better to highlight Monty’s lucid, forceful concision. Maybe but I doubt it, would love to know what Penguin thought when you presented the manuscript.

In the foreword you hint they thought it too long - perhaps you couldn't face cutting out all that repetition and tendentious padding and they just said to hell with it, let's get it out and cut our losses?