The men who stood beside the Great DukeThe Duke of Wellington was indisputably one of the most able military commanders in British history. He was not only a powerful intellect; but also a man of substantial character. In a time of aristocrats; Wellington was an autocrat able to manage powerful men by force of his still greater will and presence; with success came their inevitable respect. To Wellington; delegation failed to come easily and he clearly doubted the wisdom of it as a policy. He insisted on a knowledge of all things that might concern him and was prepared to issue directives on all matters. It is then; unsurprising that he eclipsed his immediate subordinates; senior figures and highly respected commanders in their own right; who were often given little latitude; and were regularly not fully briefed as to Wellington's strategy and grand tactics; for example; at Waterloo; amid flying shot; the duke terrified his staff by appearing to be the only person in possession of the plan of battle. All this; however; does nothing to diminish the clear contribution many of those closest to the Great Duke made towards the success of his campaigns. While having lessons to learn from Wellington they were more than capable military men-if not actually possessed of quite the same degree of military 'genius' as their commander in chief. This book chronicles eight of Wellington's lieutenants as they fought for him in the Peninsula and at Waterloo. Lord 'Daddy' Hill earned his nickname because of his extraordinary concern for the wellbeing of his soldiers; he was Wellington's most trusted general and was; unusually; given independent command by Wellington. The fiery Craufurd; leader of the Light Division; could always be depended upon to take the fight to the enemy-sometimes whether it was prudent to do so or not. Picton; the hard swearing Welshman was never easy to company but was an essential commander on the field of conflict. Accounts of the campaigns and actions of these notable soldiers are joined in this riveting book by those of Beresford; Lynedoch; Hopetoun; Anglesey and Combermere. Available in softcover and hardcover with dustjacket.
#3009464 in Books 2007-03-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.30 x 1.00 x 6.20l; 1.15 #File Name: 0853035326244 pages
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Book review of Creator of Nazu Death Camps .....By Victoria G. CuppsArrived on time in condition as described. Very interesting reading if you are interested in Nazi death camps in WW II. Would recommend0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Topically FascinatingBy Henry With an IOG was an avaricious; amoral climber--a bureaucratic killer. This is a fascinating account of his life. There are more detailed accounts of the camps; but I recommend this to all interested in this insanely murderous epoch.9 of 18 people found the following review helpful. An Architect of Nazi German GenocideBy Jan PeczkisOdilo Globocnik was of partial Slovenian ancestry. Like Hitler; he grew up with the belief that the Slavic and Jewish elements were corrupting and weakening the Germanic element of his native Austria. Globocnik set up the death camps of Belzec; Majdanek; Sobibor; and Treblinka. Settling in Lublin in German-occupied Poland; he was also responsible for the deportation (and frequent murder) of over 100;000 Poles of the Zamosc region and the terror-pacification of Polish guerilla resistance. Like Himmler; Globocnik carried cyanide in his mouth after Germany's defeat; and used it the moment that his cover had been blown.For all the emphasis nowadays upon Jews and Poles being unequal victims; the Nazi opinion of the two peoples wasn't all that different. Konrad Meyer; an agrarian economist who worked for Globocnik; assigned the following scores for "racial worth": Jews--zero percent; Poles and Lithuanians--15%; Latvians--50%; and Estonians-->50% (p. 105).The German-speaking peoples follow this north/south division: "Bavarians--and most Austrians also subscribe to this self-image--are thought of as soft-spoken; beer-swilling; sausage-eating Catholics of dark complexion; while Prussians are for the most part harsh and haughty; blond and blue-eyed Hanseatic Protestants. This division runs along the Main [Mainz?] River. The Prussians (or `fish heads') are considered to be power-hungry; stuffy; and morally rigid; Bavarians are sloppy; lazy; and inept. Hitler; who rose from the `Bavarian' camp to the position of Fuehrer by declaring the `Prussians' as an Aryan ideal; nevertheless preferred to surround himself with `Bavarians'..." (p. 88).Nazi official sometimes attempted to topple their rivals through accusations of partial Jewish ancestry. Henning von Winterfeld's wife had such ancestry; but it had been pardoned by the Fuehrer; hopefully making it a non-issue (pp. 68-69).In refutation of the Holocaust deniers; who had argued that diesel engines produce insufficient carbon monoxide for gassing; Rieger showed that Soviet tank engines actually used a combination of petrol and diesel (p. 204). Moreover; diesel engines; when run in near-throttle mode; produce more CO.Is the European Union a backdoor attempt by present-day Germany to do what she had failed in two world wars--rule over Europe? Dr. Karl Schnurer; a nonagenarian unrepentant Nazi and onetime acquaintance of Globocnik; obviously thinks so: "In his eyes; the German and Italian cultures were all that mattered with regard to civilization; and Slavic countries did not figure. Schnurer felt that the European Union's expansion of our day represented the finalization of the German `Lebensraum' programme for the east." (p. 18)
