Description
From the personal library of Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke, The War: A Concise History, 1939-1945, with a laid-in letter to Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, encouraging him to read the book.
Octavo, xxiii, [3], [32pp photographs], 579pp. Black cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine. Bumped top corner, a few points of wear, solid text block. In the publisher’s near fine dust jacket, retail price on front flap, touch of shelf wear, a near fine example.
Laid-in letter on estate letterhead of the 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, dated April 10, 1960: “My dear Bernard, Here is the book I had promised to send you. I am in no hurry to have it back / from Alan.”
The friendship of Brooke and Montgomery began at Camberley Staff College, where the two were instructors prior to World War II. This friendship would prove to be pivotal to the Allied war effort, with General Alan Brooke serving as Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the war. This position allowed him to protect the career of Montgomery, whom he viewed as “having no peer.” Montgomery felt the same way about Brooke, noting that “both as a commander and staff officer Brooke was by far the greatest soldier of the war.” The two remained friends and corresponded often after the war.
