The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today

By: Thomas E. Ricks

Narrated by: William Hughes

Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

History has been kinder to the American generals of World War II—Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley—than to the generals of the wars that followed. Is this merely nostalgia? Here, Thomas E. Ricks answers the question definitively: No, it is not, in no small part because of a widening gulf between performance and accountability.

During World War II, scores of American generals were relieved of command simply for not being good enough.

In The Generals we meet great leaders and suspect ones, generals who rose to the occasion and those who failed themselves and their soldiers. Marshall and Eisenhower cast long shadows over this story, but no single figure is more inspiring than Marine General O. P. Smith, whose fighting retreat from the Chinese onslaught into Korea in 1950 snatched a kind of victory from the jaws of annihilation. But Smith’s courage and genius in the face of one of the grimmest scenarios the marines have ever faced only cast the shortcomings of the people who put him there in sharper relief.

If Korea showed the first signs of a culture that neither punished mediocrity nor particularly rewarded daring, the Vietnam War saw American military leadership bottom out. In the wake of Vietnam, a battle for the soul of the US Army was waged with impressive success. It became a transformed institution, reinvigorated from the bottom up. But if the body was highly toned, its head still suffered from familiar problems, resulting in tactically savvy but strategically obtuse leadership that would win battles but end wars badly.

Ricks has made a close study of America’s military leaders for three decades, and in his hands this story resounds with larger meaning: the transmission of values, strategic thinking, the difference between an organization that learns and one that fails. Military history of the highest quality, The Generals is also essential reading for anyone with an interest in the difference between good leaders and bad ones.

©2012 Thomas E. Ricks (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc

Critic reviews

"[A] savvy study of leadership in the US Army…Ricks presents an incisive, hard-hitting corrective to unthinking veneration of American military prowess." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Thomas E. Ricks has written a definitive and comprehensive story of American generalship from the battlefields of World War II to the recent war in Iraq. The Generals candidly reveals their triumphs and failures, and offers a prognosis of what can be done to ensure success by our future leaders in the volatile world of the twenty-first century." (Carlo D’Este, author of Patton: A Genius for War)
"This is a brilliant book—deeply researched, very well-written, and outspoken. Ricks pulls no punches in naming names as he cites serious failures of leadership, even as we were winning World War II, and failures that led to serious problems in later wars. And he calls for rethinking the concept of generalship in the Army of the future." (William J. Perry, 19th US Secretary of Defense)

An eye-opener.

The role of Generals as mentors is shown to be critical, showing both stellar and disastrous results.

Great Book on Leadership

This is a great book on leadership that I never tried of reading, this will be my 6th time. It's worthwhile!

Interesting theory, great listen

I first read Clay Blair's Forgotten War while in high school and two points stuck with me since I read it--1. the tragedy of Task Force smith and the actions of Louis Johnson and Truman that led to it, and 2. The stunning pace of changeover in command at all levels of the US Army.

Thomas Ricks covers this turnover in command from WWII to the present, his thesis being that as we progressed from WWII, when generals were likely to be removed without stigma (and subsequently rehabilitated) over the years top generals became more ensconced and less likely to be removed other than for non-military reasons, despite obvious military failures. Coincidentally I was listening to this book right when the Petraeus scandal broke.

While I believe book over-simplistic, clearly biased against certain modern generals, and filled with lost opportunities to expound, the book is a still a very fun read for those into military history and issues of command.
The narrator is never boring.
I would love to see more in-depth coverage of Rick's thesis as it raises very valid concerns for the future of how we grade command, and these questions and lessons carry over into the business world. In Breakthrough Imperative, it was said the modern CEO has at most 18 months to make positive impact. Ron Johnson is clear case in point--when should the JCP board have pulled the plug on him--were they not patient enough or did they wait too long and the harm he caused irreparable? Ricks argues this case with several generals. What is missed is that often the generals are replacing those deemed at best as "mediocre" before them--just as when Ron Johnson replaced Ullman there was a grass is greener mentality that made matters worse.

The answers to the questions we should be asking.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I have recommended this book to my friends and students. I teach a military education course to Air Force officers, and I think this is a fantastic book to spur some critical thought about how we develop and promote the personnel we have.

While this book focuses on Army generals, I think it is applicable to any of the services, and it potentially shows us why the Army should not be the lead service in our modern conflicts.

If you would like a preview of this book, you can look up Rick's article in the Atlantic called "General Failure." If you find it interesting in the least, then you will enjoy this book.

all generals aren't equal

fascinating look at the generals and critique of their performance a must read for those who enjoy USA military history

Good overview but pushes one pont of view too much

The Generals does a good job of summing key army generals of the past 75 years. Thee sections pre Gulf War seem well researched. Where I begin to question the book is during the 1991 Gulf War and after. The sources used are a bit too close to the issues under discussion to be objective. Add to that the idea of armchair generalship when people like Spyder Marks and Barry Mcafree are quoted who seem to revel in critiquing wars on major networks; this section must be taken a large grain of salt. That being said the book seems to be a good starting point for further investigation

The Author pushes the idea of command relief throughout the book. While, a worthy idea it is unrealistic to expect it to be put in place any time soon. The evidence presented does cry out for greater accountability among the general staff.

The Narration is perfectly ordinary but I recommend taking the book in small sections, otherwise one person quickly bleeds into the next

interesting, but not necessarily correct

many assumptions, a surgeons, and conclusions are made with limited support. seems largely personality driven. Many addict notes appeared to be cherry picked. still, and interesting read that will provide value for a military reader. The underlying assertion is valuable

Sobering and Candid book

I didn't really know what I was getting when I downloaded this book. I thought it was going to be a look at prominent Generals in more recent history. Instead it was a mostly critical, though fair, look at the Generals who have lead the Army. It is also a fair minded look at why we have created a culture in the Army that rewards mediocre leadership.
Outstanding book and a must read!

Explains much about US military commanders

I could have listened to this in one sitting. You watch on TV the wars the US has going on and don't know what to make of all the problems they have concluding them. Was it inevitable? Is it incompetence? This book insightfully connects all the dots since WWII and talks about individual generals and and how they can excel or screw up based on who is running the army. A major point he makes is that in WWII commanders were replaced quickly if deemed incompetent. Nowadays no one is fired. Another point is commanders are taught to think tactically but not strategically. I'll probably reread this one.

Every Commissioned Officer Should Read or Listen

In "The Generals," Thomas Ricks relates a history of generalship (and officership) in the U.S. Army (WWII to present), but also provides his interpretation on how future officers and generals should act with regards to civil-military relationships and how the Army institution should conduct officer development. Whether a commissioned officer agrees with the opinions stated in this book, the history lessons on officer development alone are worth reading/listening too. The book strongly favors the history and concerns of the U.S. Army with barely a mention of the other four Armed Forces. Perhaps follow-up volumes regarding the other services are needed to fully address officer development in the United States military.