Much has been made of Napoleon's Marshals’ personal rivalries; jealousies; greed and lust for power. They had every soldier's vices and virtues; they were glory-seeking; self-aggrandiazing and envious of social status. Napoleon's method of command was such that he expected his marshals to obey; not initiate; and he slowly set out to ensure that his senior officers became merely blind agents who executed his orders without hesitation; discussion or personal opinion. Emir Bukhari presents an account of these soldiers who; whilst far from brilliant strategists; nevertheless performed a vital role and were exceptional leaders of men during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815).
#254959 in Books Rowman Littlefield Publishers 1999-11Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.28 x .63 x 6.12l; .74 #File Name: 0847688291224 pages
Review
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful. Good concise history of labor movementBy J. GrattanThe Unfinished Struggle; considering its brevity and the number of years that it covers; represents an adequate; even good; effort at describing the difficult; hazardous; uneven; and highly compromised journey of the labor movement since the Great Railroad Uprising of 1877.Since the book is intended for those without thorough knowledge of the labor movement; a shortcoming of the book is the absence of any history of unions prior to 1877. How did they start? What was/is the social; economic; and political/legal context of unions? But the book is a window into the practicality and realities of unionism since 1877.The author shows that other than for a brief thirty-year period the labor movement has mostly struggled for relevancy; even survival. It is not clear as to the degree of optimism that the author has regarding the completion of the struggle. As a practical matter; a reading of this book leaves little room for optimism.In the absence of great detail; the author focuses on historical "turning points" as markers to indicate the standing and prospects of the labor movement. Among those selected for discussion were the Strike of 1877; the Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912; WWI; the Steel Strike of 1919; the Great Depression; the Wagner Act of 1935; WWII; the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947; the PATCO Strike of 1981; and the change in the leadership of the AFL-CIO in the mid-90s. In addition the conflicts and contradictions within the labor movement are well assessed. Basically; the book is a very sobering account of the labor movement.The author acknowledges the next to impossible task of writing a short history of the labor movement because of its complex past; but he has done a very credible and worthy job.
