Monty: The Field-Marshal 1944-1976

Monty #3

by Nigel Hamilton

On September 1 1944 Monty was promoted to the rank of Field-Marshal. He had won the greatest Allied victory in Normandy, and the German armies were in belter-shelter retreat. The Field Marshall, 1944-76 traces Monty's extraordinary career in the last nine months of World War II.

Genres: Biography, History, World War II, Nonfiction, Military History, War

894 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1986

About the author

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

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review will do for all three volumes. While it's a great honking work - almost 3000 pages of text - Nigel Hamilton's magisterial life of Field Marshall Montgomery is a pleasurable read and well worth the time taken to do so if you have any interest in the history of the Second World War. Great Britain produced three outstanding soldiers in World War II: Alanbrooke, Slim and Montgomery, and Monty was by far the greatest battlefield commander of the three, and probably better and certainly more experienced than his American counterparts. Along with that, it must be said that he was not a "great man" and, in fact, a very unlikable character. He was verbally vicious, ungenerous towards those less gifted than himself, supremely ungrateful to those who helped him over the course of his career and totally unwilling to share the spotlight, even with his own family members. In short, an asshole. A childhood under a dominating mother was probably the cause. Nobody likes a know-it-all, especially a know-it-all who was usually right! But Monty's battles and campaigns were almost always his victories (the notable exception was Market-Garden, which he not only lost but then refused to take responsibility for), and his ability to shape the battlefield to his desires is practically unmatched in WWII. In the post-war era, he was best known for his role in designing what would become the NATO military alliance, and for enraging former colleagues by way of his indiscreet - and best-selling - memoirs. This is likely to be the best biography of this superlative and controversial military leader ever, and it will well reward your efforts. Outstanding books.

[Mick Maye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustive biography. Very informative

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third volume of Nigel Hamilton’s opus on Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery. It opens with World War II’s Arnhem campaign (“A Bridge Too Far”) and closes with his funeral. The centerpiece of the World War II period is the British point of view vs. the American point of view. General Eisenhower doesn’t come out well here, despite Monty’s admiration of him as a “people person.” In short, the British favored a concentrated drive in the north, to Berlin. The Americans went for Eisenhower’s “Broad Front” strategy, attacking along the entire Western Front. Author Hamilton explains both points of view but I didn’t catch him espousing one or the other; he does explain Monty’s point of view nicely.

Montgomery comes out well in the Bulge campaign, conserving lives for the upcoming Rhine campaign. There is more conflict over conduct of the Ruhr, mainly between Bradley, who has to shoulder Hamilton’s blame for the Germans’ initial success in the Ardennes, and Montgomery. Throughout, Monty displays a wonderful penchant for overloading his a** with his tactlessness, nearly being relieved because of it (his Chief of Staff intervened to save it/him). Naturally, there was (and still are) differences of opinion over Ike’s decision to stop on the Elbe, which the American command backed.

Monty’s career goes up and down after the war. He was not the greatest British Chief of the Imperial Staff, but performed well as the Deputy NATO commander for seven years. His memoirs did not endear him across the Atlantic, nor did his remark during a visit here that both Lee and Meade should have been court-martialed after Gettysburg. In 1976 he dies (hope that’s not a spoiler).

It, like the previous two volumes, is big (947 pages of text), and some portions concerning the difference in opinions between the U.S. and U.K. as to operations were a bit hard (for me) to follow, but overall I (and I hope) and other readers will get a new appreciation for the Field-Marshal.

[Adam Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third and final volume of Bernard Law Montgomery's biography by Nigel Hamilton beginning with the battles following D-Day and ending with Monty's funeral and memorium. The prose of the text is well done so you do not get bored wading through this monstrously long biography but, with something of this length, you do get bogged down in more details than you sometimes wish. There is also an issue of focus considering a little over half the page count deals with the final year of WWII, another third with the next couple years where Monty is helping establish control in Germany and NATO, then the remaining sliver is the final 30 years of Monty's life dealing mostly with him writing his biography. What is done well would be Hamilton's evaluation of Monty's character as his ability on the battlefield gets transferred into arrogance and pride in the other aspects of his life where Monty cannot differentiate between his self-image on campaign and other walks of life, leaving his personal (and most professional) relationships strained.

[JerryDeanHalleck · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is final volume covering August 1944-May 1945 on the Western Front. And Monty's career post war including his stint as British Army Chief of staff.

This volume was full of interesting facts regarding the fighing on the Western Front. When Bradley and Ike planned their November 1944 offensive, they requested Monty participate. Monty demurred, giving the reason he needed more replacements and supply before he could attack. In fact, Monty thought the planned attack would fail because the US Army was attacking all along the front with no point of concentration or reserves, and had no desire to lose men.

And he was right.

[Tim Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monty at his finest?

[Mark Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follows Monty through the end of the war to being CIGS and eventually to the ned of his life. A fascinating read.