U.S. Army General Dwight David Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe during World War II. A brilliant strategist and an expert in logistics and organization, Eisenhower planned Operation Overlord, the successful 1944 invasion of Europe by way of the English Channel. D-Day remains history's largest amphibious assault. In 1945, at the height of his military power, Eisenhower commanded more than four million troops from five different nations. He functioned as a manager of managers, directing all military activities in Europe. He was, in effect, the "CEO" of the war in Europe - and indeed, in a letter to Lord Louis Mountbatten of Britain, Eisenhower described his role of Supreme Commander as that of a "chairman of a board." How he successfully planned and coordinated the Allied military effort is the subject of this fascinating military history cum informative treatise on management by business writer Alan Axelrod. Axelrod applies Ike's down-to-earth thinking to the management of organizations, people or important projects in a series of lessons - 232 of them, to be exact. This long, unprioritized list is more than most readers can really absorb. Nevertheless, we suggest that managers who want to learn what inspired, successful leadership truly means study this history of the European conflict from the uniquely informed perspective of Eisenhower, the ultimate insider.

I rated "Patton on Leadership" by the same author a four star with the title "Great on Patton "and" Leadership." I had expected this to be of the same good quality. Sorry that I had been a little bit disappointed. Dont know whether it's the difference of the two characters that Eisenhower is one of decision making and Patton is one of action taking, or the author had deliberately based his new book primiarily on the correspondence written by Eisenhower, or simply the author had overdone it (there are 232 lessons), I found this not interesting and over stretched. I still can remember some good leadership stories I read from "Patton on Leadership." All I can recall from this is that Eisenhower possessed very strong political skills who strived to strike the balance right and use correct tone and words all the time. Great for CEOs of CEOs and those who want to improve their written communication, but so so for the rest.