General Patton: A Soldier's Life

I was reviewing my wish list and noted the low average rating this book received. The author invested more than a decade reviewing source documents and interviewing primary sources in order to complete this book. The book is very readable, entertaining, comprehensive, flows well, and is replete with relevant facts, as it should be. Any rating below five is ridiculous.

First and foremost, the level of exhausting research and attention to detail in this latest work from Dr. Hirshson is most impressive. The style of the writing makes the body of material accessible to readers with varying knowledge on the topic. This biopgraphy was recommended to me by a friend, and I look forward to sharing it with others. My congratulations to Dr. Hirshson on a definitive work.

This book reminds me of the excellent biography of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss. Hirshson makes the case for the greatness of Patton not just because of the leadership skills so often turned into almost mythical proportions, but mostly because he happened to be the most knowledgeable cavalry officer in the Army. Hirshson's Patton is a great general and a great leader because he knew more than his reports or his peers about the nature of war and the method of success based on the technology of the day. Success came from more than leadership and willingness to act, it also came from sheer knowledge and preparedness to make use of that knowledge on the battlefield. Hirshson's Patton is more than a blow-hard, he was a student, a technologist, a practioner, and most of all, a warrior that made use of the other aspects of himself he honed before the battle. For anyone interested in Patton or interested in learning from great leaders, this is the book for you. For senior managers who strive to hire great functional managers but have difficulty controlling their independence, this book will also provide sustenance that contrarian experts are worth it, even though the cost of some obstinacy can cause the occasional stomach twitch or two.

Unlike his grandson's mea culpa on the dark side of the World War II general, this examination of Patton, a very complex man, is unquestionably the best I have ever encountered. Anyone expecting to read a re-hashed version of the same war stories told in countless other biographies, will be shocked. Patton is shown to be more than the one dimensional warrior. It is indeed interesting to note the histories of the Patton families and how they affected Georgie Patton. It is also interesting to note the way that the Army of the early twentieth century worked politically. Details of his military actions were also well done, and at times surprising in what they revealed. This book will go to the front of my shelf of Patton books, in the place of honor.