War of Words – ‘Constable’
With Marc DeSantis
commanders
Roman Battles Quiz
Which notable battle, named after one of Italy's largest lakes, was won by the Carthaginian general Hannibal in 217 BC?
Military History Matters Letters 133 – March
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
Military Disasters Quiz
At which battle in 216 BC did Hannibal lure a much larger Roman army into a deadly trap?
The Commanders: the leadership journeys of George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and Erwin Rommel Lloyd Clark
REVIEW BY GRAHAM GOODLAD This is not the first joint biography of George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and Erwin Rommel, arguably the three outstanding battlefield commanders of World War II. Terry Brighton led the way in 2009 with his acclaimed study…
‘The end of the beginning’: Montgomery & El Alamein
Graham Goodlad assesses the career of Britain’s best-known and most controversial general of the Second World War.
Military History Matters Letters – September 2022
As both of my grandfathers perished onboard Invincible at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, I read your discussion of Admiral David Beatty (‘The worst commanders in history?’ MHM August/September 2022) with some interest. Invincible was based at Portsmouth,…
The worst commanders in history?
What makes a good or bad military leader? Is it just the winning and losing of battles, or does personality also play a part? A new book looks at some of the most disastrous commanders down the centuries. Here, three historians explain their choices.
1945: Victory in the west
REVIEW BY GRAHAM GOODLAD. Over the past decade, Peter Caddick-Adams has established himself as a leading historian of land warfare in the second half of World War II. 1945: Victory in the West completes a trilogy in which the author…
War of words – ‘SIEGE’
‘Siege’ derives from the Old French sege and had appeared in English by the 14th century.
This week: Alexander the Great
He inherited the kingdom of Macedonia (in modern-day Greece) at the age of 20. By the time of his death, just 13 years later, he had created an empire that covered two million square miles – stretching across three continents, from the Danube and the Nile to the Himalayas – and all without losing a battle.
Churchill versus the men of 1940
Nigel Jones explored the vexed relationship between President Lincoln and General McClellan in the first year of the American Civil War last issue. This time, he takes a look at Prime Minister Churchill’s relationship with the British generals in WWII.
The Western Front: a history of the First World War
This is the first of a planned three-part history of the First World War organised by theatre. The second volume will deal with the Eastern Front (including Italy and the Balkans), the third with the wider war (mainly the Middle…
The Battle of Zama, 202 BC
Neil Faulkner analyses Scipio’s greatest victory.
Wellington’s lessons in failure
‘The art of victory is learned in failures.’ It might have been said by Wellington (though in fact it was said by South American revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar). Stephen Roberts explains why.