Successful generals have all had the ability to establish a rapport with both their staffs and their men; all the great Allied commanders of World War II portrayed in this book had this ability to a greater or lesser extent. The Second World War, unlike the First, fostered the projection of 'characters', thanks to the power of the media. Montgomery and Patton could both have made a career in show business; but this does not lessen their standing as field commanders. Anthony Kemp does a first class job of examining the careers and personalities of the Allied Commanders who engineered the downfall of Hitler.