Master of the Battlefield: Monty's War Years 1942-1944

I'm not a big Montgomery fan, but this is the definitive work. Volume two 1942 -44., covers his actual command of a major army, and describes the Montgomery system and how it worked out, first against a relatively static opponent, and then in one of the seriously frustrating pursuits of the conflict. No one looked particularly good against Rommel, but he was the filter for defining the top team.
For the historian, Montgomery poses one big over-hanging question. Did he train up and define the WWII British Army and use it to its fullest potential? Or, was he a great trainer, whose actual use of his instrument revealed an inability to release junior commanders to save time and lives by innovation? That's where the question will always lie. Sadly, Military art requires that someone die, and reruns are not really possible. ( )

An excellent continuation of his first volume,The Making of a Soldier, Master of the Battlefield documents quite extensively WW2 in Western Europe from the end in Africa, through Sicily, Italy and D Day until the Normandy breakout which finished the Germans in France. He aptly elucidates the Allied leadership dilemmas, decisions, disasters and triumphs while shedding appropriate and validated insights into this greatly flawed command hierarchy.
And excellent parallel read would be Rick Atkinson's, hopefully soon to be completed trilogy ( )