The Turn Of The Tide: Based On The War Diaries Of Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke By Arthur Bryant

The Turn Of The Tide: Based On The War Diaries Of Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke By Arthur Bryant

Hardcover

Publisher: Collins 1959

Used – Near Fine. This book is in mint condition. The Dust Jacket has some very limited signs of wear and the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. The book is protected with a Cellophane cover. Inscribed on the first page.

This is a collection of diary entries by Alan Brooke. If a reader isn't aware, Alan Brooke was head of the British forces in WW2. Later in the war with the entry of the USA the leadership of the allied forces was put under General Eisenhower. What attracted me to this book was that it is the actual day to day thoughts of Alan Brooke, considered by many as one of the top two or three strategists of WW2, and not based on retrospective viewpoints which are almost always self-serving in part. The book has quotes from the diary with frequent comments by Arthur Bryant and the occasional comment from Alan Brooke from interviews post the war. It provides a narrative of the war as it was seen day by day by one of its great Generals. Alan Brooke hadn't intended to publish the diaries, but after the war many books were written that he felt didn't reflect his interpretation of events. One gets an insight into the allied strategies, how they were devised and how they came to be agreed upon. I have leant my copy (along with the second part "Triumph in the West") to a number of businessmen as I believe it provides insight into strategic leadership. Without exception the people I have leant the books to have agreed with this perspective and some have sought out their own copies. I highly recommend this book for its historical perspective, but even more so for its examples and lessons in strategic leadership.