Unlike traditional biographies of combat leaders, which focus primarily on military operations or regimental histories, in this book Major General V.K. Singh concentrates on personal accounts, anecdotes and reminiscences in order to highlight these leaders’ personalities, and to draw out the human face behind the military facade. Through the stories of these twelve military leaders, the book also throws new light on several historical events and the role of political leaders during India’ s fight for independence and the partitioning of the subcontinent. He gives an overview of India’ s military history after independence, including major operations, and describes many hitherto unknown or little-known incidents concerning smaller operations like Nathu La in 1967 and Goa in 1962.
Written records tend to glorify the actions of battalions as well as individuals, Singh says, magnifying achievements while suppressing the mistakes and glossing over failures. Leadership in the Indian Army provides a truer picture of the strength of character and convictions of each of these leaders. A must-read for anyone interested in India’ s military history.