Review: Military Affairs: Churchill as Warlord
| Published date | 01 December 1974 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070207402900421 |
| Author | John C. Cairns |
| Date | 01 December 1974 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
668
INTERNATIONAL
-JOURNAL
bases,
and
recruiting
practices.
Not
surprisingly,
there
are
discussions
of
the
'crisis
of
the
mid-thirties,'
second careers,
long
versus
short
career
patterns
for
both
officers
and
enlisted
men,
along
with
data
on
the
cost,
composition,
and
attitudes
towards
the
army.
On
balance,
the
reader
is
presented
with
a
relatively objective
assessment
of
both
the
positive
and
negative
attributes
of
the
British
army,
even
though
the
claim
that
'the
Army
compares
most favourably
with
the
bulk
of
industry,
and
with
the
other
professions'
(p
4)
is
not
assessed
in
any
detail.
Yet
the
recommendations
are
clearly
directed
at
senior
officers
and
officials
in
the
Ministry
of
Defence
rather
than
at
politicians
or
the
attentive public.
From
this perspective
the
text
reads
more
like
a
government
report
advocating
a
series
of
specific
changes
for
the
army
than
a
study
of
the
military in
contemporary
society.
Although
the main arguments
emerge clearly,
the
chapter
sequence
is
questionable and
to
some
degree
the
discussion
becomes
repetitive.
Thus
the
organizational
format
could
have been
improved.
While
the
author
has
utilized
a
wealth
of
data,
more
extensive
methodological
explanations
of
the
data
bases
would have
strengthened
his
case.
Despite
these
shortcomings, Colonel
Baynes's
study
substantiates
the
wisdom
of
the
Ministry
of
Defence
in
establishing
defence fellowships.
Canadian
senior
officers
and
officials
in
the Department
of
National
Defence
might
take
note.
If
such
a
scheme
were
implemented
for
the
Canadian
Armed
Forces
we
might
even
read
books
dealing
with
Cana-
dian
military
issues
written
by
serving
Canadian
personnel.
R.B.
Byers/York
University
CHURCHILL
AS
WARLORD
Ronald
Lewin
London:
B.T.
Batsford
[Toronto:
Pitman/Copp
Clark],
1973,
viii,
283pp,
$13.00
The
ten
years
that
have
passed since
Churchill's
death
have
brought
little
fresh
evidence
about,
and
no
new
perspectives on,
him.
The
record
and
the
verdicts
are
much
as
they
were.
The
man
lived
twenty
and
more
years
beyond
his
triumph:
by
the
time
of
his
death
it
had
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