Military Review English Edition July-August 2014 | Page 99

BOOK REVIEWS

lessen that possibility. With the republics of the Middle
East currently in revolution, and monarchies like Qatar
seeming islands of stability, Fromherz’s analysis deserves
a closer look. Similarly, a close study of the elaborate
political strategy of Sheikh Hamad is even timelier with
his relinquishing of power to his son in March 2013.
Qatar: A Modern History reads more like a reference
work than an argument about Qatar’s past and future,
with some sections being encyclopedic. Few would want
to read it from cover to cover. Despite lifting the veil off
Qatar’s official history, it nonetheless gives the ruling
family a generous amount of latitude. The 85 percent of
the population without Qatari citizenship is mentioned
ominously at points, but definitely downplayed in the
text. Even with these caveats, Fromherz’s study is essential reading for anyone with a deep interest in Qatar and
the future of the Gulf monarchies.
Col. David D. DiMeo, U.S. Army, Retired,
Bowling Green, Kentucky

STALIN’S GENERAL: The Life of Georgy Zhukov
Geoffrey Roberts, Random House, New York, 2012,
375 pages, $30.00

P

rominent historian Geoffrey Roberts’ book,
Stalin’s General: The Life of Georgy Zhukov,
focuses on the Soviet Union during World
War II. Roberts’ attention is on the Great Patriotic
War’s hero, Gen. Georgy Zhukov. Roberts argues
that Zhukov was the best all-around general of
World War II. However, this major point doesn’t
come until the concluding chapter of the book and
then comes as a surprise. Roberts uses the preceding
chapters to provide a strong biography of Zhukov
and his rise to greatness.
Roberts researched the Russian State Military
Archives and combed over Zhukov’s memoirs to
provide a vivid image of a Soviet success story. Zhukov
was born in 1896 to a peasant family and began work
as a furrier at age 12. He was later conscripted into the
Tsarist army in World War I, where he was wounded
and decorated for bravery. He joined the Red Army in
1917 and fought with the Bolsheviks during the Russian
civil war. Roberts poi