I finished Mark Urban's Generals yesterday. It truly is a good book. It gives an overview of ten important British commanders from 1660 to 1945, and is definitely not, in the author's own words, a Bumper Book of Generals For Boys or Ten Worst Brass-Hats In History. It shows historically important generals, warts and all, and not always successful ones. Taking in George Monck, Marlborough, William Howe, the Duke of York, Wellington, Charles Gordon, Kitchener, Allenby, Fuller, and Montgomery, it examines their impact and what influenced them, as well as the political relationship each one had. It's refreshingly honest and although by necessity its accounts of each general or commander are comparatively brief, it gives a good overview of each with enough details to make it gripping and enjoyable.
Urban makes good points regarding how biographies of Montgomery tend to be coloured by national prejudices one way or another, too. The picture he paints is of a very capable control-freak who was far from diplomatic to those around him and took marginally too long to realise that Britain was playing second fiddle to the US in Northern Europe, but was nonetheless a very good general. The much-mentioned Market Garden debacle is of course mentioned, but Urban counts that as less of a failure than Monty's failure to capture Antwerp as another port near the frontline.
All in all, a very good book. I recommend it.