Taking Command

General Sir David Richards is one of the best known British generals of modern times. In 2013 he retired after over forty years of service in the British Army and a career that had seen him rise from junior officer with 20 Commando to Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of the British Armed Forces. He served in the Far East, Germany, Northern Ireland and East Timor. He was the last Governor of Berlin's Spandau Prison, when Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy, was its sole prisoner. In 2005 he was appointed Commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps in Afghanistan and as commander of NATO forces became the first British General to command US Forces in combat since the Second World War. In 2000, Richards won acclaim when he brought together a collation of forces in Sierra Leone to stop the ultra-violent Revolutionary United Front from attacking the capital, Freetown. In so doing he ended one of the bloodiest civil wars to bedevil the region. He did so without the official sanction of London, and failure could have cost him his career. As Chief of the Defence Staff he advised the government during the crises and interventions in Libya and Syria and oversaw the controversial Strategic Defence and Security Review. Taking Command is Richards' characteristically outspoken account of a career that took him into the highest echelons of military command and politics. Written with candour, and often humour, his story reflects the changing reality of life for the modern soldier over the last forty years and offers unprecedented insight into the readiness of our military to tackle the threats and challenges we face today.

About the Author :
Baron Richards of Herstmonceux served in the Far East, Germany and Northern Ireland before commanding deployments in East Timor and Sierra Leone, where his intervention in the civil war, without official sanction from London, proved decisive in ending years of factional fighting. He later served with NATO and led ISAF forces in Afghanistan. David Richards became Commander-in-Chief Land Forces of the British Army in 2008 and held that role until 2009, when he was appointed Chief of the General Staff. In 2010 he was appointed as Chief of the Defence Staff, the professional head of the British Armed Forces, and served in that position until 2013. He was made a Life Peer in February 2014.

Review :
This is a most engaging account, both characteristically direct and controversial, of a life of soldiering from the post-imperial era, through the Cold War, Iraq and Afghanistan right up to the age of Jihadists and cyber-warfare. Not for many years has there been a CDS with comparable operational experience, nor one who has thought as much about defence. A brilliant memoir by the UK's most significant soldier-scholar-statesman of the new century; a compelling, thoughtful, and thought-provoking read by one who played a key role in virtually every military endeavor of the past decade He has seen just about every combat zone since Sandhurst. One is in the hands of a consummate soldier. Not the usual dry treatise on the use of force, his memoir is a highly readable account from someone involved in all the key theatres of our recent history A highly-readable, authoritative and thought-provoking memoir from a distinguished military leader . . . both relevant and instructive A fascinating book on the British Army from the 1970s to today