World Generals

No ancient ruler inspired more legends than Julius Caesar. Under his leadership, Rome conquered territory throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, reaching the North Sea and conducting the first Roman invasion of Great Britain. His tactical acumen and intuitive understanding of how armies work birthed a military structure that allowed Roman generals to expand the boundaries of the empire for generations, and his vision of a unified Europe inspired military leaders for hundreds of years. Yet, in addition to his commanding leadership of Roman troops, Caesar was also a gifted orator and skilled politician who successfully maneuvered within the most complex and well-established bureaucratic system in the world. In this fast-paced look at one of the greatest generals the world has ever seen, acclaimed author Bill Yenne charts the major events that shaped Caesar's leadership, his rise to power, and his crashing fall.

Bernard Law Montgomery was a dedicated battlefield tactician, though a controversial one. In North Africa in 1942, he commanded the Eighth Army to a great triumph against Rommel at El Alamein, which Churchill hailed as the beginning of the end of the war. During the planning stages for the invasion of Sicily, Montgomery proved himself to be a splendid organizer and a great believer in simplicity. But he was also known as a complicated man whose legacy remains tainted by his insensitive and boastful nature and desire for personal glory-all of which can have dangerous consequences on the battlefield. In the end, though, it was only due to Montgomery's influence that the weight of the Allied attack at Normandy was increased, and the Allied success of D-Day owes much to his far-sightedness. In the field, especially during the planning stages, he was at his best. An inspirational commander whose self-confidence was legendary, Montgomery's military life has proved to be a great lesson for leaders in the years since.

When the Oracle of Delphi told Alexander the Great that he was invincible, it was right. The son of the great King Philip II of Macedonia, Alexander was educated by Aristotle and commanded a wing of his father's army in the victory over the Thebans and Athenians at the Battle of Chaeronea-all when he was still just a teenager. By the time of his death at age 32, he had amassed an empire that stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River and included all of Persia and most of Egypt. He ruled as both the shah of Persia and as a pharaoh of Egypt by right of conquest, and he was also crowned king of Asia. Here, historian Bill Yenne illuminates the legendary vision of this classical hero. Exhibiting the best traits of a battlefield leader, Alexander was audacious, aggressive, fearless and victorious. His unfailing integration of strategic vision and tactical genius took him to the ends of the earth, and into immortality as a military leader. Alexander's influence on cultural and political history and the scope of his military prowess remains awe-inspiring to this day.

Michael Haskew takes us on a tremendous journey through de Gaulle's pivotal years, his leadership of the resistance, and beyond to understand the man who remade both modern military tactics and global leadership. Charles de Gaulle once stated, "France has no friends, only interests," and it was this strength of mind and love of country that took the region from an occupied territory during World War II to a leader in the Allied cause. Convinced that his personal destiny and that of his beloved country were intertwined, de Gaulle's life's work was dedicated to advancing its preeminence among nations. Even while the country lay prostrate before the Nazis, he maintained the honor of the French people, choosing to resist rather than to collaborate. His presidency was no less visionary; under de Gaulle, France became a nuclear power, granted autonomy to more than a dozen of its former colonial holdings, and maintained an influential presence on the world stage.