Wednesday, 13 September 2017

George Patton: A Life from Beginning to End by Hourly History – Book Review



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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