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Politics of Command
Lieutenant-General a.G.L. McNaughton and the Canadian Army, 1939-1943
John Nelson Rickard (Author)
9781487541026
Paperback / softback, published 11 February 2021
416 pages, 18 b&w illustrations
22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.52 kg
"Captain Rickard has provided a much-needed reassessment of Canada’s top general during the formative years of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Giving weight to both the systemic challenges that came with the rapid expansion of the army and the personality conflicts – the ‘flame warfare’ – in which McNaughton became engaged, Rickard offers refreshing insight into ‘Andy.’" "Through his nuanced analysis, Rickard’s argument provides a radically different historical interpretation of McNaughton as a senior national commander between 1939 and 1943. Moreover, Rickard convincingly demonstrates that judgements by McNaughton’s peers were greatly coloured by the effects of his dominant personality and by his earlier relationships … Rickard adds significant and relevant context to earlier historical interpretations of McNaughton’s obstinacy with keeping the Canadian Army intact for employment in a European invasion."
In December 1943, Lieutenant-General A.G.L. McNaughton resigned from command of the 1st Canadian Army amidst criticism of his poor generalship and of his abrasive personality. Despite McNaughton's importance to the Canadian Army during the first four years of the Second World War, little has been written about the man himself or the circumstances of his resignation. In The Politics of Command, the first full-length study of the subject since 1969, John Nelson Rickard analyses McNaughton's performance during Exercise SPARTAN in March 1943 and assesses his relationships with key figures such as Sir Alan F. Brooke, Bernard Paget, and Harry Crerar. This detailed re-examination of McNaughton's command argues that the long-accepted reasons for his relief of duty require extensive modification. Based on a wide range of sources, The Politics of Command will redefine how military historians and all Canadians look at not only "Andy" McNaughton but also the Canadian Army itself.
Maps Introduction Part One: The Making of Andy McNaughton 1. Early Life and the Crucible of the First World War Part Two: The Problem of Deploying the Army 3. A Willingness to Fight, 1940–1941 Part Three: McNaughton as Military Commander and Trainer 6. The Difficulty of Training in 1940 Part Four: The End of an Idea 11. The Sicily Incident Epilogue Appendices
Tables and Figures
Foreword by Marc Milner
Preface by Lieutenant-General Andrew Leslie
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
2. The Road to High Command
4. From ROUNDUP to TORCH
5. Practical Operations of War
7. The Politics of Training
8. Enter Montgomery
9. Exercise SPARTAN
10. The Long Shadow of Spartan
12. Broken Dagger: A Corps in Italy
13. The Final Months of McNaughton's Command
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index