John Keegan, The Mask of Command (New York: Viking Penguin, 1987)
Overview: In this book on the nature of generalship, the command, and the direction of armies in war, Keegan overs a deep dive into key tenets of leadership, to do so he analyzes Alexander, Wellington, Grant, and Hitler and their place in the history of military leadership. This is a clear subscription to the Great Man style of history, his analysis is predicated on the political nature of leadership, or, the mask of command.
Central Thesis: To lead in combat a leader must show himself to be what his soldieres hope and require, through a mask, and conceal those qualities his people should not know. Keegan argues, leaders who “carry forward others to the risk of their lives” could reveal only as much of themselves as their followers required; all else had to be concealed by a mask of command.
Scope of Book: Generalship, for Keegan, is much more than command of armies in the field, it is the embodiment of societal values and traits that will an army to victory.
- He arguest that military command always had to reflect the distinct ethos, traditions, and culture of the society that the army came from and as such the leaders displayed an outward manifestation of personality traits necessary for their armies to respond.
- Classifies generalship as either heroic or directorial but that until recently these two styles complemented each other as even directorial types had to expose themselves to danger from time to time
- Alexander epitomizes the heroic leader, always at the decisive point of the battle, often inspiring men by his presence. He led by example.
- Wellington serves as Keegan’s anti-hero—an English gentleman who commands in an understated fashion. Nevertheless he still exposes himself to danger to impress his troops while mostly shunning the theatrics of heroism in favor of gentlemanliness.
- Grant is the epitome of unheroic leadership, insofar as he commands from the rear edge of the battle and directs an army of much greater range and lethality than those prior. Grant wore the mask of the republican, and commanded through consent.
- Hitler is Keegan’s depiction of a falso hero that commands from areas well to the rear and avoided personal contact with his troops while maintaining a false mask of command through propaganda. Hitler hid and let his propaganda machine trumpet his valor from a previous war.
- His closing chapter summarizes that in the nuclear age, any style of heroic leadership would lead to the abject destruction of civilization and that the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was conducted in a strictly post-heroic manner.
- Keegan finishes with five “imperatives” for successful command: kinship, presecription, sanction, action, and personal example.
Commentary: The biggest critique of this work might be the 2000 year gap between Alexander and the Duke of Wellington. Otherwise a great example to drive his point home that while there are certain traits all successful commanders have, effective command is contingent on the society from whence an army is derived.