Includes index.

ch. 1. Preparing for wartime commands: The top echelon. The less troubleson maverick : Arnold. Pershing's most valuable protégé : Marshall -- ch. 2. Adjusting to coalition warfare: Allied commands. Master of new dimensions in naval warfare : King. The Presdident's admiral : Leahy -- ch. 3. Crisis in command: The survivors and the replacements (December 1941-May 1942). From uninvited guest to host : MacArthur. A calm, confident leader comes to Pearl Harbor : Nimitz -- ch. 4. Troubled beginnings in Britain and Africa: The command search (Europe, May 1942-May 1943). At ease with MArshall and Churchill : Eisenhower. Commited to strategic air power : Spaatz -- ch. 5. Interservice difficulties in the war against Japan: Commanders for the early counteroffensives (Pacific, May 1942-May 1943). Known for "tenacity, courage, and resourcefulness" : Vandegrift. Assigned "the toughest job of any of our generals" : Stilwell -- ch. 6. Mediterranean troubles and Normandy worries: Command challenges and changes (Europe, May 1943-June 1944). A controversial "American eagle" : Clark. Point man for Arnold and Spaatz : Eaker -- ch. 7. Mounting the dual advance toward Tokyo: Midwar leadership (Pacific, May 1943-June 1944). The impulsive, swashbuckling "sailor's admiral" : Halsey. Well suited to be MacArtur's air commander : Kenney -- ch. 8. Leading the final campaigns against Germany: From Normandy to the Elbe (Europe, June 1944-May 1945). Ike's "master tactician" : Bradley. The American commander whom the Germans feared the most : Patton -- ch. 9. The last fifteen months of the Pacific war: From Biak to Saipan to Tokyo Bay (Pacific, June 1944-September 1945). Amphibious expert and volatile Marine loyalist : Smith. Cool, careful, cunning : Spruance -- ch. 10. Politics?