| 4th Cuirassier | 20 Jul 2022 9:09 a.m. PST |
One of my favourite historians. His The Desert Generals was thought-provoking and his Bonaparte painted a portrait a lot closer to contemporary perceptions than is held today. link Correlli Barnett, the historian, who has died aged 95, delighted in puncturing national "delusions" about Britain's military prowess and historic status as a world power. He debunked the reputation of military men like Field Marshal Montgomery, whom he felt had been wrongly lionised; but he attempted to restore the reputations of others, Sir Douglas Haig and General Claude Auchinleck among them, whom he believed had been unfairly treated by historians. Barnett's zest for controversy brought him a public profile denied to most historians. Yet while he often succeeded in enraging the guardians of received wisdom, his critics could seldom fault the thoroughness of his scholarship. As a result, he succeeded in making views that would once have been considered outrageous part of the mainstream. |
 The Virtual Armchair General  | 20 Jul 2022 9:21 a.m. PST |
Yes, indeed! I read "The Desert Generals" decades ago, and it definitely gave me a great admiration for "The Auk," and began my reassessment of Monty. Had no idea the Man was still with us but has now passed. Ave Atque Vale! TVAG |
 Artilleryman  | 20 Jul 2022 10:51 a.m. PST |
A great loss. He was a an entertaining historian and he certainly made me reassess Monty. R.I.P. P.S. What was that quote from 'Saving Private Ryan' about Montgomery? 'The man's overrated'. |
| Shagnasty | 20 Jul 2022 10:52 a.m. PST |
He was an excellent and thought-provoking historian. RIP |
 Mserafin | 20 Jul 2022 11:54 a.m. PST |
"The Swordbearers" was excellent as well. A great loss. |
| dibble | 20 Jul 2022 12:00 p.m. PST |
His book about Montgomery was his opinion. His book isn't the be-all end-all tome. Of course Montgomery wasn't perfect and his judgment at times could be brought into question. But then, all the Commanders were the same. Even those who had a propensity to slap their subordinates. |
 Whirlwind | 20 Jul 2022 12:32 p.m. PST |
I enjoyed his books and his independent viewpoints. |
| Bob the Temple Builder | 20 Jul 2022 1:44 p.m. PST |
One of the great British military historian. His death will be mourned by everyone who has ever read one of his book. |
| 42flanker | 20 Jul 2022 3:27 p.m. PST |
Well, he was 95. I don't think we have been cheated. We all owe a debt to nature. NOw he's off on the big adventure. |
| arthur1815 | 21 Jul 2022 1:03 a.m. PST |
I remember hearing him give a talk about Napoleon many years ago. He began by saying he would not dignify him by calling him Emperor or Napoleon, but would simply refer to him as Bonaparte. This drove a Frenchwoman sitting beside me into paroxysms of barely suppressed fury which were almost as entertaining as the talk! |
| 15th Hussar | 21 Jul 2022 1:36 a.m. PST |
What TVAG said, read "TDG" almost 50 years ago and it changed my perceptions also, though I must admit further reading over the years still keeps me in the AUK Camp, but I can also understand and appreciate Montgomery, as a person today. Greacen, Lavinia (2015). Chink: A Biography is a must read in this tale too. |
| 4th Cuirassier | 21 Jul 2022 1:53 a.m. PST |
@ arthur1815 The drift of his book on Bonaparte was that Bonaparte was just a thug. He had military talents, flattered by the ineptitude of his opponents, but he ran his empire like the Camorra ran a criminal racket, with enforcement by thuggery, third-rate family members handed thrones and titles, and by having opponents whacked. It's not a view I agree with 100%, but he argues it well. |
| Darrell B D Day | 21 Jul 2022 4:09 a.m. PST |
This drove a Frenchwoman sitting beside me into paroxysms of barely suppressed fury which were almost as entertaining as the talk! I don't know why she would get so upset; it's not as though Bonaparte was even French….! DBDD |
| Frederick | 21 Jul 2022 2:11 p.m. PST |
Or, for that matter, that Hitler was actually German – - - I have to say, coming from a family with a couple of WWII Canadian vets, they did not share the usual at the time glowing admiration for Monty – while they acknowledged he was a great general, they also felt – to quote – "he was prepared to fight to the last Canadian and Pole" |
| 4th Cuirassier | 22 Jul 2022 1:37 a.m. PST |
Some wag once said that Austria's greatest achievement has been convincing the world that Beethoven was Austrian and that Hitler wasn't. Barnett makes the point of Bonaparte that by birth in 1769 he was as French as a contemporary American was British. The Corsican Republic was militarily conquered and forcibly incorporated into France the year Buonaparte was born. It was liberated by the British 25 years later and became independent again, but was reconquered by France in 1796. Buonaparte was Corsican in a geographical sense, that of where he physically hailed from, but his formal nationality was French. Hence the interesting comparison to contemporary Americans. Strictly they were British because there was no such nationality as American until independence. To say you were Corsican or American in 1769 would be like saying you are Arkansian today: it's not an actual nationality. |
gets his hands on some fields and fences.
