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The Memoirs Of Lord Ismay: General The Lord Ismay
The Memoirs Of Lord Ismay: General The Lord Ismay
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The appointment of Major-General H.L. Ismay to the Chiefs of Staff Committee was made on May 1st, 1940, when Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty. On May 10th he succeeded Chamberlain as Prime Minister and Ismay's position at once became of the first importance. His functions were ill defined. He liked to call himself Churchill's "agent"; but he was very much more than that term usually implies. Out of his close association with the Prime Minister there grew a deep understanding and friendship. Accompanying him everywhere from blitzed areas in London to major conferences all over the world, or sharing with him his moments of relaxation after the heat of the day, Ismay had unique opportunities to observe the Colossus who was his master and his memoir paints a full portrait of Churchill. In 1925 Ismay was appointed Assistant Secretary to the Committee of Imperial defence. By the outbreak of the Second World War he was very experienced in committee work. The waging of total war in a democracy is a complex business: committees and conferences have to do their work, temperaments have to be reconciled and methods of implementing decisions arrived at. It is this aspect of the war covered by Lord Ismay. He was important as a peacemaker and mediator; there was no lack of potential friction between the Chiefs of Staff and their political superiors in World War II and the fact that this friction remained largely potential was largely due to Ismay. After his years in India, Somaliland and Whitehall and his work in World War II, he returned post-war to India as the personally invited advisor to the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, to contribute to the settlement of Partition, and after its successful conclusion Lord Ismay crowned his career of public service as the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) where he strove to prevent a future war with the same energy as he had helped to win the past one.
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1st edition; hardback; uncommon title; dust jacket has chipping and edgewear; light age-toning to free endpapers and title pages only; tightly bound and clean within, MilitariaShare
