Directing Operations

Throughout the world, countries are obliged to make great sacrifices in order to raise the vast sums of money needed to secure their defence. But both the sacrifice and the money will be wasted unless properly prepared and qualified commanders are available to direct military operations in the event of war breaking out.

Many books have been written which attempt to deduce the qualities required of contemporary generals by studying the performance of the great captains of history. By contrast, in Directing Operations, first published in 1989, Kitson works out the qualities needed by studying the tasks that would be likely to confront commanders of the day. He goes on to discuss how traditional methods of producing senior officers, which may have been suited to the needs of the massed armies of the first half of the twentieth century, should be adapted to fit the demands of the modern world.

Kitson's writings continue to be widely read and provoke strong opinions, and the ideas contained in Directing Operations remain highly relevant to the armies of all developed countries.

General Sir Frank Kitson GBE, KCB, MC and Bar was commissioned in the army soon after the end of the Second World War. In the course of his service he spent many years with armoured formations in Germany, culminating in command of an armoured division. He also took part in counter-insurgency and peace-keeping activities in Kenya, Malaya, Oman, Cyprus and Northern Ireland and held staff appointments in two of the most influential departments in the Ministry of Defence. He retired in 1985, having spent the final three years of his service as Commander-in-Chief United Kingdom Land Forces. His sometimes controversial writings on military subjects - notably Low Intensity Operations (reissued by Faber Finds in 2010, along with Directing Operations and Bunch of Five) - remain highly relevant and continue to be widely read and to provoke strong opinions. In retirement, he has given evidence to the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland. General Sir Frank Kitson GBE, KCB, MC and Bar was commissioned in the army soon after the end of the Second World War. In the course of his service he spent many years with armoured formations in Germany, culminating in command of an armoured division. He also took part in counter-insurgency and peace-keeping activities in Kenya, Malaya, Oman, Cyprus and Northern Ireland and held staff appointments in two of the most influential departments in the Ministry of Defence. He retired in 1985, having spent the final three years of his service as Commander-in-Chief United Kingdom Land Forces. His sometimes controversial writings on military subjects - notably Low Intensity Operations (reissued by Faber Finds in 2010, along with Directing Operations and Bunch of Five) - remain highly relevant and continue to be widely read and to provoke strong opinions. In retirement, he has given evidence to the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland.