Lloyd George and the Generals

[Al Parsons]

First post here folks so please forgive me if this book has been reviewed elsewhere. (I tried the search feature but came up empty).

Has anyone read this book? It is hard to come by and very expensive but the title is so tempting that I may one day splurge and buy it.

Does the book settle once and for all the subject of Lloyd George's relationship with his generals?

Thanks in advance.

[armourersergeant]

Al,

I think Lloyd-George's two volume autobiography settles the question of his relationship with his Generals!

However I have not read this book and would be interested to the feed back on this.

regards

Arm

[Al Parsons]

Al,

I think Lloyd-George's two volume autobiography settles the question of his relationship with his Generals!

However I have not read this book and would be interested to the feed back on this.

regards

Arm

Arm, well you certainly have that right. But, of course, I was hoping for a substantially less biased source. It will be interesting to read the reviews of this book. Al

[truthergw]

I too am very tempted but it is too dear for me. I think that this is such a complex subject with a lot of deliberate obfuscation from both sides, that no one book will give a definitive answer. Some of the prewar biogs of the generals concerned are available at reasonable price. So it is possible to look at some of the sources for the book in question. e.g. I am reading a biography of Foch by Brig. Aston which throws quite a bit of light on just this subject.

[Al Parsons]

I too am very tempted but it is too dear for me. I think that this is such a complex subject with a lot of deliberate obfuscation from both sides, that no one book will give a definitive answer. Some of the prewar biogs of the generals concerned are available at reasonable price. So it is possible to look at some of the sources for the book in question. e.g. I am reading a biography of Foch by Brig. Aston which throws quite a bit of light on just this subject.

Tom, I agree with you but that is all the more reason for a well-researched book that does justice to its subject. As far as I know, Woodward may well be the historian who can do just that.

As for the prewar biogs of the generals concerned, I do wish that some bright spark or two would edit and publish the diaries of these generals. Almost all of them seem to have kept diaries but very few actually get published. A good example would be Sir Henry Wilson. Many excerpts from his diary were published in Callwell's two volume work (1927) but Callwell himself admits to editing out many of Wilson's stronger opinions (and Wilson was a man of strong opinions). Rawlinson also kept a diary which is cited by many historians. Will someone please edit and publish this please? I would do it myself gladly if I had easy access to the originals in the IWM. But, since I live in Brighton ONTARIO, this presents something of a problem. Anyway, I digress.

I love this website. Only came across it recently.

[armourersergeant]

Wilsons papers at the IWM cover more than a few shelves full. It would be in volumes me thinks! Thats all assuming you could read his awful handwriting.

However if you pay my wages I will willing sit and type them all out

regards

Arm

[David Seymour]

Not a review but there is a good summary of the contents with a list of chapters on the Blackwells website. £85!!!

Best wishes,

David

[Chris_Baker]

There is a good recent biog of Henry Wilson by Keith Jeffery, drawing principally on Wilson's papers at IWM. Actually I don't find Wilson's writing too bad - you need to see Henry Rawlinson's writing to know what illegible really means.

[truthergw]

I liked Jeffery's book and it made one thing obvious or at least, reminded me of it. There was a long tradition of Army and Navy officers writing their memoirs. Notes and diaries for this purpose were kept by many officers. The higher one rose the more this task gained in importance. The diaries were written with a view to publication. In the twenties and thirties there were dozens of biographies published, most of them autobiographies. Almost all based on notes and diaries which were always intended to be so used. So, even the diaries are not completely unbiased descriptions of events as they occurred.