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Montgomery in Europe: Success or Failure?
World War II 1943-45.
This remarkable study of Montgomery and his campaigns, from Sicily to the German surrender on Lüneburg Heath, provides the most authoritative verdict on a man whose position, character and actions were central to the final defeat of Nazi Germany, but which also brought a fair measure of disaster.
As the author shows, the battles Montgomery fought were not only against the Germans. He struggled with inter-Service rows, political manoeuvring and, worst of all, his treatment of some of the American commanders, including Eisenhower, brought results that were to have a profound effect upon post-war Europe.
Montgomery in Europe is an insightful exploration into Montgomery’s tactics in World War II.
Praise for Montgomery in Europe:
‘Full of revealing and important information.’ - John Terraine, Daily Telegraph
‘A notable contribution … judicious, detailed and scrupulously fair, as might be expected from one of Britain’s most respected military writers.’ - Drew Middleton, New York Times
‘One can only recommend Mr Lamb’s more succinct, equally informative account as by far the best buy.’ - Michael Howard, Sunday Times
‘Richard Lamb has enriched the history of the Allied campaign against Hitler by exciting new research.’ - Frankfurter Allgemeine
‘This objective study is of the greatest interest to historians and performs a valuable service … This is an important book.’ - British Army Review
A journalist, broadcaster and writer, Richard Lamb served with the Eighth Army during the Second World War. He was editor of War Monthly from 1978 to 1982, and is the author of two recent books, The Ghosts of Peace 1935-1945 and The Failure of the Eden Government.
This remarkable study of Montgomery and his campaigns, from Sicily to the German surrender on Lüneburg Heath, provides the most authoritative verdict on a man whose position, character and actions were central to the final defeat of Nazi Germany, but which also brought a fair measure of disaster.
As the author shows, the battles Montgomery fought were not only against the Germans. He struggled with inter-Service rows, political manoeuvring and, worst of all, his treatment of some of the American commanders, including Eisenhower, brought results that were to have a profound effect upon post-war Europe.
Montgomery in Europe is an insightful exploration into Montgomery’s tactics in World War II.
Praise for Montgomery in Europe:
‘Full of revealing and important information.’ - John Terraine, Daily Telegraph
‘A notable contribution … judicious, detailed and scrupulously fair, as might be expected from one of Britain’s most respected military writers.’ - Drew Middleton, New York Times
‘One can only recommend Mr Lamb’s more succinct, equally informative account as by far the best buy.’ - Michael Howard, Sunday Times
‘Richard Lamb has enriched the history of the Allied campaign against Hitler by exciting new research.’ - Frankfurter Allgemeine
‘This objective study is of the greatest interest to historians and performs a valuable service … This is an important book.’ - British Army Review
A journalist, broadcaster and writer, Richard Lamb served with the Eighth Army during the Second World War. He was editor of War Monthly from 1978 to 1982, and is the author of two recent books, The Ghosts of Peace 1935-1945 and The Failure of the Eden Government.
545 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 3, 2018
Good book, spoiled by dreadful formatting
A well written and balanced assessment of the egotistical, inflexible, and oftentimes infuriatingly slow Montgomery; it documents his endless efforts to control all land forces in the European theater and his arrogance and self-assurance that was indistinguishable from massive conceit. His contempt for Eisenhower and American troops is shown for what it was: a complete inability to accept the possibility that he, Monty, might be wrong. Even after some major blunders, such the botched "Market Garden" battle, he claimed credit for "victories," even when his contributions to a win were secondary at best, he claimed full credit. While this book is critical of Eisenhower as well, Monty is shown to be a fairly skilled General when fighting a set-piece battle, but unable to adapt to new circumstances or to seize opportunities. The feud between him and Eisenhower over command of land forces was driven by Monty's overwhelming self-regard and desire for "glory" in the final battle. The author isn't complimentary to either General but Monty comes off by far the worse.
Unfortunately the book is rendered nearly unreadable by some of the worst formatting I've ever encountered in any e-book. Much of the text is quoted from primary sources but no attempt has been made to distinguish the quotes from the narrative by means of different typefaces, italics, or even proper paragraph spacing. Footnotes are dropped willy-nilly into the text, and there are innumerable typographical errors. This book deserved better copy editing and formatting. As it is the reader has to wade through the muck and sometimes has to scratch his head trying to figure out what is being said and whether it's the author or one of his sources.
A well written and balanced assessment of the egotistical, inflexible, and oftentimes infuriatingly slow Montgomery; it documents his endless efforts to control all land forces in the European theater and his arrogance and self-assurance that was indistinguishable from massive conceit. His contempt for Eisenhower and American troops is shown for what it was: a complete inability to accept the possibility that he, Monty, might be wrong. Even after some major blunders, such the botched "Market Garden" battle, he claimed credit for "victories," even when his contributions to a win were secondary at best, he claimed full credit. While this book is critical of Eisenhower as well, Monty is shown to be a fairly skilled General when fighting a set-piece battle, but unable to adapt to new circumstances or to seize opportunities. The feud between him and Eisenhower over command of land forces was driven by Monty's overwhelming self-regard and desire for "glory" in the final battle. The author isn't complimentary to either General but Monty comes off by far the worse.
Unfortunately the book is rendered nearly unreadable by some of the worst formatting I've ever encountered in any e-book. Much of the text is quoted from primary sources but no attempt has been made to distinguish the quotes from the narrative by means of different typefaces, italics, or even proper paragraph spacing. Footnotes are dropped willy-nilly into the text, and there are innumerable typographical errors. This book deserved better copy editing and formatting. As it is the reader has to wade through the muck and sometimes has to scratch his head trying to figure out what is being said and whether it's the author or one of his sources.
November 1, 2017
Montgomery in Europe
The Kindle edition of this book suffers from formatting issues due to scanning OCR errors. That said, it’s still readable and informative. The author possess the question “Success or Failure” yet never actually gives his own answer to the question. Instead, the reader is presented with the facts (from the British point of view for the most part) and left to make up their own minds. For me, my knowledge from other sources along with this book has me answering that Montgomery was somewhere in between trending towards failure. Monty was a good planner and organizer, as well as a good motivator for the British, but failed in pressing the attack, capitalizing on situational opportunities, and seemed incapable of working with others if they had differing opinions. This book is good for a look into Montgomery, but the reader needs to have additional resources to make a complete opinion of him.
The Kindle edition of this book suffers from formatting issues due to scanning OCR errors. That said, it’s still readable and informative. The author possess the question “Success or Failure” yet never actually gives his own answer to the question. Instead, the reader is presented with the facts (from the British point of view for the most part) and left to make up their own minds. For me, my knowledge from other sources along with this book has me answering that Montgomery was somewhere in between trending towards failure. Monty was a good planner and organizer, as well as a good motivator for the British, but failed in pressing the attack, capitalizing on situational opportunities, and seemed incapable of working with others if they had differing opinions. This book is good for a look into Montgomery, but the reader needs to have additional resources to make a complete opinion of him.
October 25, 2017
World War II Story
Interesting book. ( The Kindle edition is very flawed.) Hard to believe that a hero like Montgomery would be so criticized by a British officer. After reading Montgomery's own writings, it is easy to see that an honest author would have no other choice. I have often read the opinion that the American generals had of him, but I had never before read his own writings.
Interesting book. ( The Kindle edition is very flawed.) Hard to believe that a hero like Montgomery would be so criticized by a British officer. After reading Montgomery's own writings, it is easy to see that an honest author would have no other choice. I have often read the opinion that the American generals had of him, but I had never before read his own writings.
October 27, 2017
Very balanced and objective, no one comes off well. My only criticism is that the author largely disregards the role of international politics in the strategic decision making of the European campaign.
May 2, 2019
A workmanlike look at how the self-centred character of Montgomery progressively gained him American enemies and critics, from Eisenhower to Patton. Ruined by terrible editing.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews