This is a double portrait of the two very different personalities whose cooperation at the apex of the Allied military command in WW II had profound implications for the war effort. In many ways, Eisenhower and Montgomery exemplified their different nations. Ike, the son of an impoverished Midwestern farmer, was easygoing, charismatic, and modest. Montgomery came from the British ruling class, if not from its upper echelons. Although both graduated from elite military academies, only Monty had the arrogance of man born into privilege. His eccentricity, his extraordinary habit of treating his superiors as if they were inferiors, his obsession with military perfection made him a difficult ally for the Americans. ``Damn it'' Ike exclaimed, ``Montgomery's the only man in either army I can't get along with.'' During the D-day invasion, Monty tendered a plan for the invasion of Germany totally at odds with that of the American high command. Bradley, Patton, and other US generals were outraged, suspecting Montgomery of being a crackpot, but Eisenhower granted him a division. The suspicion and tension never relaxed. From Eisenhower's point of view, British public opinion had to be placated by giving Montgomery prominence; the problem was that the latter treated Eisenhower himself as a military ignoramus. Gelb's account of Montgomery's first great victory over Rommel at El Alamein is gripping stuff, and his explanations of the behind-the- scenes antagonisms and maneuverings are eye-opening. Montgomery's obnoxious character, above all, comes over loud and clear. He once asked an English lord if he could stay at his country house while training nearby. The lord agreed, delighted. But Montgomery then said he would not dine with anyone and would need a whole wing. Outraged, the lord withdrew his offer, whereupon Montgomery had him thrown out of the house and stayed there himself for the rest of the war. Generals at War abounds with such telling anecdotes and also is given backbone by Gelb's (Desperate Venture, 1992) clear understanding of warfare and the politics of WW II. (26 b&w photos)
Pub Date: May 25, 1994
ISBN: 0-688-11869-0
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A history, published in Britain shortly after the author wrote it in 1937, of the few months surrounding the Barcelona Telephone Exchange riots and what the writer determines as the Communist betrayal of all of Spain's anti-fascist forces. The crux of Orwell's writing is to show the ridiculous misrepresentations of the actual happenings in Barcelona and on the front and their meaning for the rest of Spain. The Communists were joined with the Government. Another anti-fascist faction was the P.O.U.M. or anarchist militia. They were closely allied with socialist worker movements, ready to build up a workers' revolution. In the beginning when issues were but hazily defined, Orwell joined the P.O.U.M. and fought with them- at the front. The Communists, considering anarchist-socialist revolutionary policies as presumptive, sought successfully to purge the P.O.U.M. and rendered them through messy journalism, coercive police methods, withdrawal of arms, false reports- as Trotskyists, pro-Franco, anything but the potent patriotic force they were. Thus republican Spain lost a power that could have helped beat Franco. Orwell's report is as exciting as it is meditative. With his quiet exactitude the midnight skirmishes, the political issues, and the utter futility of war come clearly into focus. Perhaps not a book to create sensation in a day when much of what happened at Barcelona has been realized, but one enlightening in terms of showing the war way toward mutual understanding and fair play.
Pub Date: May 15, 1952
ISBN: 1849025975
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Harcourt, Brace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1952
With this detailed, versatile cookbook, readers can finally make Momofuku Milk Bar’s inventive, decadent desserts at home, or see what they’ve been missing.
In this successor to the Momofuku cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar’s pastry chef hands over the keys to the restaurant group’s snack-food–based treats, which have had people lining up outside the door of the Manhattan bakery since it opened. The James Beard Award–nominated Tosi spares no detail, providing origin stories for her popular cookies, pies and ice-cream flavors. The recipes are meticulously outlined, with added tips on how to experiment with their format. After “understanding how we laid out this cookbook…you will be one of us,” writes the author. Still, it’s a bit more sophisticated than the typical Betty Crocker fare. In addition to a healthy stock of pretzels, cornflakes and, of course, milk powder, some recipes require readers to have feuilletine and citric acid handy, to perfect the art of quenelling. Acolytes should invest in a scale, thanks to Tosi’s preference of grams (“freedom measurements,” as the friendlier cups and spoons are called, are provided, but heavily frowned upon)—though it’s hard to be too pretentious when one of your main ingredients is Fruity Pebbles. A refreshing, youthful cookbook that will have readers happily indulging in a rising pastry-chef star’s widely appealing treats.
Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-307-72049-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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