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A very interesting book. What amazes me about Marshal Zhukov is his ability to recount details about operations that were carried out 20 years before he wrote the book. It is interesting to contrast him with many Indian Generals. What comes through in this book is the great emphasis the Soviet Army pays to logistics and planning unlike the recounting of stories of the Indian Army Generals. And perhaps this is a very important lesson i.e. the relative lack of importance of planning. 1971 when we had ample opportunity to plan and carry out operations results were heavily in our favor whereas most other wars with our neighbors we have been reacting to events. Perhaps we do not do enough gaming of wars and therefore are caught unawares time and again. Anyway World War II was indeed a battle for survival between three very different sets of beliefs. Zhukov words bring to life the enormity of the struggle and the scarifices made by the Russians. There is no crying about the loss of 700+ plus men in any battle here unlike India in Kargil. This was a battle of survival. We can learn many things from this book about how a person with talent, strong will and some luck can rise above his station in life and achieve much. One can also learn that if one has the strength of conviction and the fortitude one can stand up against mighty odds. One can follow the great example of planning for an operation. The need for accurate battlefront intelligence (Kargil, 1965, 1947 all come to mind). One can learn how a strong leader, perhaps also cruel at times, can lead people to victory. I found it revealing that Stalin was open to ideas and that leaders such as Zhukov were unafraid to voice their disagreements albeit very diplomatically. If there is any negative then of course it is the flipside of all this i.e. lack of care for the men under his command (but then Stalin was standing behind him to exact vengeance if he failed!), lack of mention of his parents whom he talks about in the first few chapters but who then vanish from the book completely, etc. Zhukov was one of the great generals of World War II and lacked the charm and charisma of Manekshaw, Patton, Montgomery, Rommel, etc. He was more in the mold of Bradley but someone who achieved much more and was more ambitious like say Patton and Rommell, in my opinion.
Rating:  [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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