Professor Mark R. Polelle examines great military leaders in history, beginning with George Washington and moving on to Napoleon, U.S. Grant, Pershing, MacArthur, and Schwarzkopf, among others. The course also addresses the politics of military history and leadership and illustrates the circumstances that enable the rise of great leaders. Perhaps most importantly, Professor Polelle raises and answers that essential question: What is it that makes a good leader?
Lecture 1 The Politics of Military History and Military Leadership
Lecture 2 Washington: The Indispensable Man
Lecture 3 Napoleon: The First Modern General
Lecture 4 U.S. Grant and the Art of War in the Industrial Era
Lecture 5 Sherman and the Advent of Total War
Lecture 6 The Great Southern Hope: Robert E. Lee
Lecture 7 Moltke and the German Way of War
Lecture 8 Pershing and the American Expeditionary Force in World War I
Lecture 9 Eisenhower and World War II
Lecture 10 Patton and the Romance of War
Lecture 11 MacArthur: The American Caesar?
Lecture 12 Curtis LeMay and Generalship During the Cold War
Lecture 13 "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf and Desert Storm: Remaking the American Military after Vietnam
Lecture 14 Lessons of Military Leadership
Informative, basic, and easy to listen-to lecturer makes this a good choice for an elementary overview of select 18th-20th Century generals. Titles of some lectures were misnamed.