General Patton : a soldier's life / Stanley P. Hirshson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hirshson, Stanley P., 1928-2003.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Patton, George S. (George Smith), 1885-1945.

Patton, George S.

Generals--United States--Biography.

Generals.

United States.

United States. Army--Biography.

United States. Army.

United States--History, Military--20th century.

History, Military.

World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns.

World War, 1939-1945.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxii, 826 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : HarperCollins, [2002]

Summary:

General George S. Patton, Jr., an inspirational leader and outstanding tactician, has intrigued and confounded his biographers. Now, utilizing untapped archival materials in both the United States and England, government documents, family papers, and oral histories, Stanley P. Hirshson creates the most balanced portrait of Patton ever written. It reveals Patton as a complex soldier capable of brilliant military maneuvers but also of inspiring his troops with fiery speeches that resulted in horrendous acts, such as the massacres of Italian civilians. It explains Patton's belief in a soldier's Valhalla, connects the family's wealth to one of America's bitterest labor strikes, and disputes the usual interpretation of Patton's relief from command of the Third Army. In investigating this complex man, Hirshson has uncovered surprising material about a series of civilian massacres in Sicily, about the two slapping incidents, about attempts to exploit Patton's diary after his death, and about Patton's relations with top Allied generals. Patton emerges as a soldier of great imagination and courage, and his military campaigns make for edge-of-the-seat reading. All the drama of Patton's life comes alive in this meticulously documented volume.

Contents:

Prelude: Sicily, July 12, 1943, to July 14, 1943 1

1 Glassells and Herefords, Wilsons and Pattons (with Some Account of the Dyslexia Myth) 5

2 A Day as a Lion 49

3 The Suicide Club 90

4 Leavenworth and All That 133

5 The Warrior Soul 174

6 "1918 Minds, All" 213

7 Field of Honor 256

8 "Not Much of a War" 296

9 Sicily on My Mind 340

10 Atrocities Amid the Triumphs 363

11 "Lower Than Whale Tracks" 407

12 Whither Destiny? 435

13 Invasion Blues 466

14 Hurry Up and Wait 502

15 Stumbling into the Bulge 536

16 Hits and Errors 573

17 "Haven't You Learned Not to Take This Man Seriously?" 617

18 Headlong Toward Disaster 651

19 A Diary and a Movie 681

20 Patton: A Brief Assessment 700.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [709]-803) and index.

ISBN:

0060009829

OCLC:

50115876