MILITARY MAVERICKS

This collection of 12 military biographies ranges from the predictable to the perverse.

In assembling a pantheon of unorthodox military personalities from a period extending over 2,000 years, Rooney acknowledges the difficulty of offering any final definition of a maverick—but he proceeds to devise one anyway, arguing that the true military maverick combines a fixated dedication to his cause with an heroic ability to lead troops into battle. The maverick is often the heir of a familial martial tradition. He demonstrates calmness under fire, and he understands the significance of such mundane issues as logistics, organization, and communication. One is somewhat pained, however, to see how these qualities can encompass such diverse characters as Macedonian warlord Alexander the Great, Confederate general Stonewall Jackson, Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny, and Vietnamese patriot Vo Nguyen Giap. One idea that emerges in all of Rooney’s biographies is that the maverick tends to be an honorable warrior who defies the marshal orthodoxies of his time. While this is a standard topic in studies of this kind, Rooney’s analysis ignores his theme’s ethical dimensions. For example, Nazi general Heinz Guderian is lauded for steadfast dedication to his men in the face of Russian counteroffensives and for defying Hitler’s feverish demands never to surrender. When his colleagues later joined in plots to assassinate the dictator, however, Guderian refused to participate on the grounds that it would violate his oath of loyalty. Rooney praises Guderian for pursuing his career, "without once compromising his honour or his loyalty to his ideals." It would seem that his moral imagination is as limited as his subject’s conscience. Rooney’s selective historical and moral judgments diminish what might have been an interesting summary of military

leadership to a disturbing rehearsal of hero worship.