Gary Mead – författare

'Mead significantly expands our understanding of Montgomery himself, his motivation and his genius' GENERAL LORD RICHARD DANNATT'Deeply researched, highly insightful... Contains all anyone needs to know about Britain's most consequential soldier of the Second World War' ANDREW ROBERTSKnown to all as ‘Monty’, Bernard Law Montgomery’s greatest achievement was to give the British Army self-belief after Dunkirk, ensuring that his troops were inspired to embark on the long struggle to defeat Nazi Germany and its allies. The self-proclaimed ‘cad’ of the army would regularly tour his forces to talk to them in person, but employed disastrously outdated tactics in the Second World War. Yet he still secured famous wins in North Africa, most notably in the second Battle of El-Alamein. He followed that by leading his troops into Europe, first by invading Italy in September 1943 and then commanding the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944. However, his strategy for the Battle of Arnhem proved a costly failure.No other general was so hated by his peers; no other general was held in such affection by the ordinary ranks and by the public. Now, fifty years since his death, Montgomery remains a highly controversial figure. This balanced, accessible and fresh account of one of Britain’s most complex war heroes looks beyond the battlefield. Delving into Montgomery’s belligerent Victorian boyhood, his family’s legacy of financial precariousness, his love-hate relationship with Winston Churchill and his dubious romances, Gary Mead asks what life experiences and personal secrets influenced this man’s volcanic emotional life and, ultimately, his multifaceted and disputed legacy.Definitive and profound, Montgomery: Unbeatable, Unbearable captures the motives, spirit and psychological complexities of the man dubbed Britain’s last great soldier.

'Mead significantly expands our understanding of Montgomery himself, his motivation and his genius' GENERAL LORD RICHARD DANNATT'Deeply researched, highly insightful... Contains all anyone needs to know about Britain's most consequential soldier of the Second World War' ANDREW ROBERTS Known to all as 'Monty', Bernard Law Montgomery's greatest achievement was to give the British Army self-belief after Dunkirk, ensuring that his troops were inspired to embark on the long struggle to defeat Nazi Germany and its allies. The self-proclaimed 'cad' of the army would regularly tour his forces to talk to them in person, but employed disastrously outdated tactics in the Second World War. Yet he still secured famous wins in North Africa, most notably in the second Battle of El-Alamein. He followed that by leading his troops into Europe, first by invading Italy in September 1943 and then commanding the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944. However, his strategy for the Battle of Arnhem proved a costly failure. No other general was so hated by his peers; no other general was held in such affection by the ordinary ranks and by the public. Now, fifty years since his death, Montgomery remains a highly controversial figure. This balanced, accessible and fresh account of one of Britain's most complex war heroes looks beyond the battlefield. Delving into Montgomery's belligerent Victorian boyhood, his family's legacy of financial precariousness, his love-hate relationship with Winston Churchill and his dubious romances, Gary Mead asks what life experiences and personal secrets influenced this man's volcanic emotional life and, ultimately, his multifaceted and disputed legacy. Definitive and profound, Montgomery: Unbeatable, Unbearable captures the motives, spirit and psychological complexities of the man dubbed Britain's last great soldier.

When 25-year old Private Johnson Beharry won the Victoria Cross in 2005 for bravery under fire in Iraq, he was the first person to win Britain's highest military honour since the Falklands war in 1982 and the first living recipient since 1969, when two Australians were given the award for action in Vietnam.Born out of the squalor of the Crimean War in 1856 and the fragility of the monarchy at that time, the VC's prestige is such that it takes precedence over all other orders and medals in Britain. But while many books have been written about specific aspects of the VC and its recipients, none have asked why so many brave men who deserved the medal were denied it, and why no women have ever been awarded the VC, even though they are entitled. Military historian Gary Mead's vivid and balanced account of the VC's life and times exposes the hypocrisy behind one of the UK's last sacred cows, and explores its role as a barometer for the shifting sands of political and social change during the last 150 years.