Thomas B. Buell (1936–2002)

The latest monograph in the Korean War series illuminates the role of the Navy's top flag officers in Washington, the Pacific area, and the Korean theater of operations before and during the first chaotic months of war. Thanks to the leadership of six influential naval officers and the mobility of naval forces, especially carrier aviation, U.S. forces were in South Korea within three weeks of the North's invasion. The six protagonists--Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy, Vice Admiral Arthur D. Struble, Rear Admiral James H. Doyle, and Rear Admiral Arleigh A. Burke--were involved in the strategy, planning, and execution of the most critical operations of the war.… (altro)

I enjoyed reading the leadership qualities of these six generals - and it sounds like it would have been better for all if Gen. Thomas had been in charge of the Union and Hood in charge of the Confederate army. It was a blunderful war - the number of blunders on both sides was staggering. Still it was an informative book. It would have earned five stars if there had been more graphics - the arrays of names were difficult to follow (and remember whose side was whom for this Civil War novice), so command charts would have been nice whenever commanders were reasigned - and more maps to illustrate the battles, too. (It seems like both armies had an Army of Tennessee, which was REALLY confusing; about half way through I realized one was called The Army of Tennessee and the other was The Army of the Tennessee - that distinction could have been made clearer earlier on). It would be a neat project in the future for some Leadership scholar to join forces with a Civil War scholar to reference actual leadership theories to what was going on and make something like this not just a scholarly Civil War book but also a scholarly leadership book.… (altro)