The Art of Command: Military Leadership from George Washington to Colin Powell. This item is unavailable.The Art of Command: Military Leadership from George Washington to Colin Powell

What essential leadership lessons do we learn by distilling the actions and ideas of great military commanders such as George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Colin Powell? The Art of Command illustrates that great leaders become great through a commitment not only to develop vital skills but also to surmount personal shortcomings. Harry S. Laver, Jeffrey J. Matthews, and the other contributing authors identify nine core characteristics of highly effective leadership, such as integrity, determination, vision, and charisma, and nine significant figures in American military history whose careers embody those qualities. The Art of Command examines each figure's strengths and weaknesses and how those attributes affected their leadership abilities, offering a unique perspective of military leadership in American history.

Harry S. Laver is associate professor of history and political science at Southeastern Louisiana University and author of Citizens More Than Soldiers: The Kentucky Militia and Society in the Early Republic.

Jeffrey J. Matthews is associate professor of business and leadership at the University of Puget Sound. He is the author of Alanson B. Houghton: Ambassador of the New Era.