Examines how the military experience of three religious founders shaped their spiritual legacy. It is one of the more startling facts of military history that the founders of three of the four "great religions"-Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam-were also accomplished field generals with extensive experience in commanding men in battle. One of these, Muhammad, fought eight battles and was wounded twice, once almost fatally. Another, Siddhartha Gautama...

Former soldier and author Richard Gabriel offers a prescription for reform based on his twenty years of military experience. The history of American military operations in the post-Vietnam era has been marked by failure and near-disaster. Since 1970, American forces have been committed in five operations--in Sontay to rescue prisoners, in Cambodia on behalf of the crew of the Mayaguez, in Iran to rescue the American hostages, in Beirut, and in Grenada--and...

Of the thousands of commanders who served in history's armies, why is it that only a few are remembered as great leaders of men in battle? What combination of personal and circumstantial influences conspire to produce great commanders? What makes a great leader great? Richard A Gabriel analyses the biographies of ten great generals who lived between 1481 BC and AD 632 in an attempt to identify the characteristics of intellect, psychology, personality,...