Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay

General Ismay was Chief of Staff during World War II to Winston Churchill in his capacity as Minister of Defence. He served in that role until the fall of the Churchill government on August 25, 1945. Subsequently he served as Chief of Staff to the last Viceroy of India, Earl Mountbatten. He finished his career as Secretary-General of NATO.

This book is primarily about the war years. There is a good deal of background to major events and decisions. The background is generally anecdotal rather than critically analytical. In fact, one gets the impression that Ismay was a genuinely nice guy and rarely had a bad word for any of his colleagues. The major arguments and disagreements of the British and American alliance are glossed over and, save for the memoirs of others, would be largely unknown to us from this book alone. Nevertheless, this is an important contribution from a man always at the center of power.… (meer)