Scapegoats ― Thirteen Victims of Military Injustice

At all costs avoid blame.” Such is the creed of dictators and politicians, tycoons and company chairmen, media celebrities, and spin doctors the world over. But what about men at war, where the penalties for errors of judgment can be devastating? History is full of tales of those who have been wrongly castigated in the rush to find a culprit; only later, sometimes much later, when the real truth comes out, is the scapegoat exonerated. Exposed here are the real stories behind the myths that allow the reader to make a balanced judgment on history’s fairness to the individual, including those of:

Captain Alfred Dreyfus, exiled and imprisoned on charges of treason in 1895
Lieutenant General James Longstreet, blamed for the failure of Pickett’s Charge in 1863
Major General Jackie Smyth, removed from the Army after ordering the destruction of the Sittang Bridge in 1942
Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire, let down by the United Nations over the Rwanda massacres of 1994

This superbly researched book by a former professional soldier uncovers what might be termed the most disgraceful miscarriages of military justice.

Michael Scott was commissioned into the Scots Guards in 1960. After worldwide regimental service, he led the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards in the Falklands War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He was subsequently a brigade commander in Northern Ireland and, as a major general, commanded the army in Scotland and was appointed governor of Edinburgh Castle in 1993. On leaving the army, he was selected to be the first complaints commissioner to the Bar Council dealing with complaints against barristers. His first book was In Love and War: The Lives of General Sir Harry and Lady Smith, cowritten with David Rooney. He lives in England.

Magnus Linklater is a British journalist, writer, and former newspaper editor. Linklater was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to the arts and media in Scotland. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.