Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein has attracted the
attention of countless historians over the last 70 years but, despite this
coverage, views of his character remain controversial and contradictory. His
younger brother Brian, himself a successful soldier, enters the fray with this
charming and revealing book examining the background of this legendary military
commander. He provides a fascinating account of the influences of Monty’s family
genes together with a wealth of unknown details about his career.
His grandfather, Sir Robert Montgomery, played a key role in crushing
the Indian Mutiny and his adventures have intriguing parallels with those of
Monty’s two generations later. Dean Farrar, his maternal grandfather, was a
powerful Victorian educational and religious figure (Headmaster of Marlborough
College and Dean of Canterbury) and author of the iconic Eric, or Little by
Little.
The author examines in the most entertaining and frank manner Monty’s
idiosyncratic character traits; his opposition to tradition, his Nelsonian
approach to rules and regulations, his ruthlessness and determination and his
unfashionable views on the absolute necessity for self publicity – and the most
intensive training to get the maximum from his subordinates, down to the most
junior levels.
