Reviewed by "Carl"
Posted Feb-27-2003
I
want to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Carl I live in Willington
Ct.I fondly remember the Combat! series from my youth. There were many days spent
playing "Combat" in the woods, assuming the names of the characters etc. I am a
Revolutionary War re-enactor, and an amateur WWII historian.
My favorite topic is discussing Patton. I am currently finishing Patton- A
Genius for War by Carlo D'Este. An EXCELLENT chronicle of his life. It gives one
a new and fresh perspective on the man vs the myth. It really is an eye opener in terms of
relating to the accuracy of the movie. It lays to
rest the misconceptions of the movie, and how he managed his relationships with those in
command as well as those who served under him. I highly recommend it to anyone.
We also visited Normandy 2 years ago which also helps one to realize just how tough it
must have been for those like the ones depicted in the series. The graves in
Colville gives one pause, and a strong sense of pride. To look out over the channel and
even try to imagine what the allies faced on D-Day is almost futile. I look forward to
communing on various topics.
From the Publisher about Patton: A Genius for War
Fifty years after his death, General George C. Patton Jr. remains one of the most
colorful, charismatic, misunderstood and controversial figures ever to set foot on the
battlefields of World War II. And the image of the man has been not a little influenced by
the 1970 film Patton, starring George C. Scott, in which he is portrayed as a
swashbuckling, brash, profane, impetuous general who wore ivory-handled pistols into
battle and slapped two hospitalized soldiers in Sicily.
It is one of the achievements of this riveting biography that it reveals the complex
and contradictory personality that lay behind the facade. With full access to Patton's
private and public papers, and the cooperation of the general's family, Carlo D'Este shows
us not only the extrovert Patton of public perception, but also the intensely private
Patton -- the devoted student of history, the poet, the humble man very unsure of his own
abilities -- who could burst into tears, be charming or insulting quite unexpectedly, and
the Patton who trained himself for greatness with a determination matched by no other
general in the twentieth century. D'Este describes Patton's patrician background with its
strong military heritage in the Civil War on the Confederate side; his struggle to
overcome dyslexia to get through West Point; his lifelong doubts about his own courage
that forced him to take reckless chances; and the enduring and sometimes troubled marriage
to his childhood sweetheart, Beatrice Ayer, daughter of a wealthy Boston family, who
proved to be a tower of strength and devotion to a soldier husband who was miserable in
peacetime.
This book also covers Patton's military career from his dramatic role in the 1916
campaign against Pancho Villa in northern Mexico to his service in France in World War I,
where he organized and led the first U.S. tank corps at Saint-Mihiel and in the
Meuse-Argonne offensive (where he was seriously wounded), to his frequently brilliant and
occasionally very controversial roles during World War II in the fighting in North Africa,
Sicily, France and Germany, where he earned the reputation of being the allied general the
Germans most feared and respected. Patton: A Genius for War is a full-fledged
portrait of an extraordinary American.
About the Author of Patton : A Genius for War
Reading
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