"What happens when the political leadership demands too much of the military? This is the question that Alistair Horne examines, and whose consequences, often disastrous, this book reveals. Alistair Horne has written previously on the Paris Commune, the battle of Verdun, the fall of France, and France's war in Algeria. In all of his books he has gone beyond the purely military aspects to examine the political and social background."--Book jacket.