Product Description
Could Napoleon have won the battle of Waterloo? And what would have happened if he had? Or suppose Nelson had not destroyed the French fleet at Aboukir, would Napoleon conquered India and become Emperor of the East? What if Hitler had not halted his panzer forces before Dunkirk and had entrapped the entire British Expeditionary Force? How would Churchill have then defeated the Wehrmacht? If by chance Hitler had been assassinated in 1944 and the German General Staff taken control, would there have been a totally different kind of surrender? In examining these and other contingencies, General Strawson brings his experience of command in war and his skill as a military historian to present us with an enthralling catalogue of chance and speculation, while emphasising how profoundly the f commanders influenced events and how events affected their character.

About the Author
Major-General John Strawson served with the 4th Hussars during World War II and later commanded the regiment in Malaysia and Germany eventually becoming Chief of Staff, United Kingdom Land Forces. He has written twelve works of military history including The Italian Campaign and Churchill and Hitler. In Victory and Defeat. He is married with two daughters.

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2.0 out of 5 stars If only..., 18 Sep 2003

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There are a lot of "what if?" books out there, most of them covering very much the same territory as this one - the Allies taking Berlin in 1945, the panzers not halting before Dunkirk etc. The key is they usually do it rather better than this one, such as Peter Tsouras or David Downing's excellent "The Moscow Option". The analysis here is superficial and meanders from one alternative to another without really digging into them. This is a great shame; as a Major General with extensive staff-level and combat experience, Strawson could give real insight into the complexity and chaos of war. There are two points where he gives a taste of "what might have been" with this book. In his description of the events leading to the Charge of the Light Brigade, he adds pace and colour, if mixed with a glorification of this case of catastrophic incompetence. Second is his all-too brief account of his own experiences in Italy as a tank troop commander, forging on in bewildering circumstances and giving a flavour of reality that armchair generals could never do.

The situations he writes of are often missed opportunities. The same could be said of this book.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Confusing, 7 Sep 2008

By	Graham R. Hill "gralhill" (Ilkley) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author's heart doesn't really appear to be in much of this book. He'd clearly rather be writing about how the Allies should have conducted the Second World War in the European theatre. Perhaps he should do that next time.

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