It seems fair to suggest that Bernard Law Montgomery remains a controversial and divisive figure, even fifty years after his death. Some see him as the greatest military commander and strategist of his generation, others as a deeply flawed character, solely responsible for all the ills that befell the troops under his command. In some estimates he was responsible for ponderous and overly cautious campaigning where he was unable or unwilling to admit to anything that might be construed as a failure. In others that he brilliantly conserved meagre manpower resources whilst overwhelming a series of consummate opponents. Added into the mix is Montgomery's singular character. He seems able to engender some form of adoration in some and the deepest loathing in others. Certainly, he could come across as abrasive and egotistical, abrupt and inclined toward condescension. At the same time, he was a committed and dedicated professional soldier who was widely respected and adept at nurturing junior officers. This account, then, is an opportunity to look in-depth at the three pivotal years that took him from El Alamein to the Baltic and projected him to world attention. To achieve this the reader is guided through the environment in which his tactical headquarters operated, its organisation and equipment whilst overlaying the campaigns it fought and, most particularly, the sometimes fractious relationships on which much of the history that is handed down is based. AUTHOR: Daniel Taylor has studied 20th Century warfare for over thirty years. The recording and commemoration of the actions of soldiers during an era of global conflict remains been his passion. Now that the veterans of those wars have all but disappeared, his ambition is to represent their stories to inspire and inform younger generations. After serving in the Territorial Army during the 1980s and 90s, he started writing articles for specialist magazines and lecturing on military history, including venues such as RMA Sandhurst, the National Army Museum, and the Tank Museum, also appearing in and presenting TV documentaries. In recent years Daniel has become the Curator for the Kent & Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum, based at Hever Castle in Kent. He continues to lead battlefield tours to the original locations to help better explain their significance for schools, various units of the British Army, and groups of veterans (and members of their families), retracing the footsteps of the past. Whilst specialising in Normandy, he has led tour so the Western Front, Italy, Libya and Egypt. He now lives in Kent, is married, and has two sons. 300 colour illustrations
