Leadership and responsibility in the Second World War : essays in honour of Robert Vogel

Leadership and Responsibility in the Second World War examines how well political, diplomatic, and military leaders, particularly in Great Britain, handled the daunting challenge of a worldwide conflagration. It seeks to determine if a connection can be delineated between leadership, responsibility, success, and failure - specifically if any connection can be found between reluctance to shoulder responsibility and failure to produce results. In doing so, the authors challenge widely accepted views on major wartime controversies, such as the role of Neville Chamberlain and his Conservative party at the outbreak of the war, the reasons the British failed to reach an alliance with the Soviet Union in 1939, and the motives that drove Claus von Stauffenberg to attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Eight international academics contribute eight essays examining the leadership of a range of political decision-makers, military commanders, diplomats, and other senior officials—particularly those from the British Empire—during WWII. Notable individuals discussed include Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain and Clement Attlee, Nobel Laureate A. V. Hill, British diplomat Sir William Seeds, German army officer Claus von Stauffenberg, Field Marshal Earl Wavell, and General Harry Crerar. There is no subject index. Distributed by Cornell U. Press Services. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Chamberlain and appeasement / Robert Vogel Loyalty in wartime: the old Tories and British war policy, 1939-1940 / Aaron Krishtalka Clement Attlee reconsidered / Trevor Burridge The frustration of A. V. Hill: British war science and the Baconian paradox / Neil Cameron Sir William Seeds: the diplomat as scapegoat? / Sidney Aster Claus von Stauffenberg and the military ethos / Peter Hoffmann The dice were rather heavily loaded: Wavell and the fall of Singapore / Brian P. Farrell Colonials and coalitions: Canadian-British command relations between Normandy and the Scheldt / Paul D. Dickson.