Mark Urban tells the story of ten exceptional generals who left their mark on Britain, the British Empire, and the world. Some - including the Duke of Wellington, Lord Kitchener and Bernard Montgomery - are names etched in the national mythology. Others are unsung heroes and shadowy presences whose achievements or failures may have had consequences quite different to those they had intended.

All ten of these generals revealed either a brilliant ability or a fatal flaw. Success or failure depended largely on their ability to work within Britain's Parliamentary democracy - and against tyrants, despots and emperors who were often free to act alone.

Mark Urban, the acclaimed author of Rifles and Fusiliers, is now one of our foremost experts on military history.

'One of the most intelligent books on the British Army I have ever read.' Allan Mallinson