{"product_id":"the-general-9780008279905","title":"The General","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe book John Kelly reads every time he gets a promotion to remind him of the perils of hubris  the pitfalls of patriotism and duty unaccompanied by critical thinking  The most vivid  moving  and devastating  word-portrait of a World War One British commander ever written  here re-introduced by Max Hastings. C.S. Foresters 1936 masterpiece follows Lt General Herbert Curzon  who fumbled a fortuitous early step on the path to glory in the Boer War. 1914 finds him an honourable  decent  brave and wholly unimaginative colonel. Survival through the early slaughters in which so many fellow-officers perished then brings him rapid promotion. By 1916  he is a general in command of 100 000 British soldiers  whom he leads through the horrors of the Somme and Passchendaele  a position for which he is entirely unsuited and intellectually unprepared. Wonderfully human with Foresters droll relish for human folly on full display  this is the story of a man of his time who is anything but wicked  yet presides over appalling sacrifice and tragedy. In his awkwardness and his marriage to a Dukes unlovely  unhappy daughter  Curzon embodies Foresters full powers as a storyteller. His half-hero is patriotic  diligent  even courageous  driven by his sense of duty and refusal to yield to difficulties. But also powerfully damned is the same spirit which caused a hundred real-life British generals to serve as high priests at the bloodiest human sacrifice in the nations history. A masterful and insightful study about the perils of hubris and unquestioning duty in leadership  The General is a fable for our times.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45789810262069,"sku":"ByrdShop_000827990X","price":28.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780008279905.jpg?v=1784699939","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-general-9780008279905","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}