Foundation and the Mask of Command

I've finished the second book in Asimov's trilogy and continue to be impressed by the story arc. It was clearly written as a trilogy, something that has become less common or less obvious in today's market, particularly in film. So often now, sequels are little more than rehashing of the story elements of the original, which was properly conceived of and executed as a complete story. Of course, for an interesting twist, we need look no further that Tolkien, whose Lord of the Rings was written as a single book and split into three for publication. All the more reason to admire Peter Jackson's committment to making the three films seamless (no "to be continued" message at the end or flashbacks at the beginning).

I'm also nearly finished with Keegan's Mask of Command. Keegan uses Alexander, Wellington, Grant, and Hitler as representatives of four types of military leadership: heroic, anti-heroic, unheroic, and false heroic. The section on Grant was particularly illuminating for me, emphasizing that even though generals had moved beyond leading from the front (as Alexander always did, and Wellington occasionally did), Grant was able to overcome the image of a distant leader by staying close to his troops and living in conditions not terribly different from their own. After reading Ambrose's account of Grant in To America and now Keegan's take, I walk away with a much improved vision of our 18th President.

In contrast, I've somehow found myself with even greater distate for Hitler. It's difficult to gauge distate for someone long dead, and particular difficult when it reaches the levels of disgust which any analysis of Hitler necessarily entails. Keegan manages to stay very even-handed (in fact, I found it too even-handed at times), but still clearly conveys the depths not just of Hitler's crimes against humanity, but his lies, distortions, and ineptitudes. It's a bit strange to even discuss Hitler without discussing the Holocaust, but Keegan does just that. In doing so, he sets up a separate arena in which Hitler's failures (instead of his crimes) become the most evocative story. Though he seems to have performed admirably in his service in the First World War, Hitler's views of warfare and leadership were clearly inhibited by his being such a sociopath. In particular, Keegan tells the tale of Hitler dining in his train cabin when a train full of wounded German soldiers stops on the parallel track. Rather than face these youths, Hitler instructs an aide to pull down the shades. That contrasts quite strongly with the usual Triumph of the Will imagery. I will have to pick up a Hitler biography sooner rather than later, as my own Holocaust-centric understanding of Nazi Germany is beginning to feel anemic.