George Patton, the American general from the
Second World War has always been a curious figure, known for bravery and tact,
but at the same time, riddled with controversies. This is a short biography of
General Patton by Hourly History.
The starting point of the book is the extensive
military background of the Patton family who have served both in the army of
the United States and also the Confederates. The book then goes on to describe
his time at the United States Military Academy in West Point followed by his
first experience with conflict during the Pancho Villa expedition against
Mexico followed by the First World War. Post that, the focus was on the Second
World War with him leading the American campaign in the Mediterranean, the
scandals he was involved in, and his eventual post war career as the military
governor of Bavaria during the interim United States administration of Germany.
The book did a good job in bringing out Patton’s
very aggressive personality – callous and would do anything to get his job
done. It also touched upon most of his wars and also his relationship with the
other Generals in the military, including that of Eisenhower. I also appreciate that they didn’t try to
justify all his actions, the controversial ones and stated them as they were
and the judgement was left to the individual reader.
However, I think the book had contents for less
than an hour and the author could have focused on more description on the
conflicts he was involved in, similar to what was done in Hourly History’s book
on Erwin Rommel (who was incidentally Patton’s opponent in Africa). That was a serious let down as this is a
biography of a military general and the description of his military tactics and
actions were inadequate.
I would say this is a good read for those who
want to know about some of the less known figures of the Second World War and
on that count, I would award the book a rating of six on ten.
Rating – 6/10
Have a nice day,
Andy
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