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New in Paperback: In Command Culture, Jörg Muth examines how the United States Army and the German Armed Forces selected, educated, and promoted their officers in the crucial time before World War II. German officers came from a closed authoritarian society but received an extremely open minded military education, whereas American officers came from one of the most democratic societies but received an outdated military education that harnessed their minds and limited their initiative. Command Culture clearly explains the lack of audacity of many high ranking American officers during World War II. Those American officers who became outstanding leaders in World War II did so not so much because of their military education, but despite it.
“The general message, though controversial and certain to lead to arguments, is buttressed by substantial evidence. Muth’s topic has immediate present-day relevance.”—Gerhard Weinberg, author of A World at Arms
“An important and long-lasting contribution to the debate over officer training in the United States.”—Robert Citino, author of The German Way of War
“Muth’s challenge to the ‘new military history’ will generate controversy but cannot be dismissed.”—Dennis Showalter, author of Patton and Rommel
“Muth’s analysis of the U.S. Army is a hard one, but he backs it up with extensive research. This is one of the most important books about the German and American armies in many years.”—Major-General (ret) David T. Zabecki, Military History
“This is an important book that disputes the triumphalist literature about officer education in the US Army and recommends a more honest educational approach to achieve an effective command culture, at least at the tactical level. Command Culture has received much critical attention and is shaping an ongoing debate about American officer education.”—John T. Kuehn, Michigan War Studies Review
“This is a very important book with serious contemporary as well as historical implications. It should be read widely by students of the Second World War and by anyone interested in questions of service culture, institutional learning, doctrine, and officer training.”—Ingo Trauschweitzer, Journal of Military History