about the author: vitez andris kursietis has been a researcher of military history for over fifty years, using resources that span the globe. his latest book, “the netherlands military leadership 1900 - 1945”, contains the military biographies of the eight hundred and thirty-one dutch generals and admirals and other senior officers who held high-level command positions in the netherlands armed forces during the most difficult of times, the period preceding two world wars, and the war years themselves. also included are chronological listings of those commands and their commanders. until recently, kursietis served as the chairman, president and ceo of the latvian welfare association in the usa (daugavas vanagi asv), as well as vice-chairman of the organization’s international board. he has been married to rosemarie for thirty-six years, and credits her for encouraging him to share the fruits of his many years of research with a wider audience of historians.