December 1, 2023
Multi-best-selling Kershaw (Against All Odds) considers General Patton's reliance on faith in the face of intractable weather, which mired the Allies and allowed the Germans to regroup. With a prayer in hand that he also distributed to his quarter million troops, he told the men to pray as the Battle of the Bulge drew ever closer. Prepub Alert.
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Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 1, 2024
A detailed study of the critical role of Gen. George Patton and his Third Army in World War II. Of the many colorful figures to emerge from WWII, Patton is one of the most remarkable and notorious. Pugnacious, ruthless, and impetuous, he was a skilled battlefield tactician and always had one eye on history--especially his own. The problem faced by Kershaw--a journalist who has written a number of books about the war, including The Liberator, The Longest Winter, and The First Wave--is that there is already a shelf of volumes on Patton. The author tries to get around this issue by combining an analysis of Patton as a person and military leader with an account of the Third Army, which Patton commanded in the final stretch of the war. When Patton's troops were bogged down in the winter mud and rain, he asked the senior chaplain to come up with an inspirational message mixed with a prayer. He did, and Patton was so pleased with it that he ordered 250,000 copies printed and distributed. The tactic worked because most of the American soldiers fought hard to delay and frustrate the German Ardennes counteroffensive. Patton often made a point of visiting the front line, and he had a secret wish to die a warrior's death in battle. However, he died due to complications following a car accident shortly after the end of the conflict. Kershaw handles all the material with authority, and even if there is not much new to say, he lets the charisma and mercurial nature of Patton shine through. Readers unfamiliar with Patton will find this book to be a solid, unadorned account, which is, perhaps, what Patton would have appreciated. With careful research, Kershaw tells an engaging story, blending Patton's virtues and flaws into a well-drawn portrait.
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March 25, 2024
George Patton was “an unusual mixture of a profane and highly religious man,” writes bestseller Kershaw (Against All Odds) in this perceptive biography, which focuses on the general’s leadership during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. With nearly three months of rainy weather hindering his eastward advancement, Patton, better known among his soldiers for his wisecracks and vulgarity than for his faith, ordered his chaplain to write a special prayer for the troops that requested clear skies (“We humbly beseech Thee... to restrain these immoderate rains”). Two days before Christmas, after 250,000 copies had been printed and dispersed, the weather lifted (“What a glorious day for killing Germans!” Patton noted in his diary), allowing the Americans to drive their armored battalions into Belgium and, over the coming months, onward into Germany. Kershaw presents the prayer as a skeleton key to Patton’s mercurial personality, going on to trace how he was ruled by a profound sense of honor complemented by a rough pragmatism. For example, Patton went from having “enormous contempt” for Nazis to publicly opposing Eisenhower’s de-Nazification plans, arguing that most former Nazis weren’t genuine party extremists. Such character analysis is undertaken with a light touch; for the most part, Kershaw’s novelistic rendering of Patton’s exploits amuses with its punchy dialogue and propulsive action. WWII buffs will want to check this out.
April 1, 2024
In early December 1944, the efforts of the U.S. Third Army, led by Gen. George S. Patton, ground to a halt due to a seemingly endless inundation of rain and mud. Desperate to get his army moving, Patton asked chaplain James Hugh O'Neill, a Catholic priest, to compose a prayer for good weather. Patton liked the prayer so much that he ordered 250,000 copies printed and distributed to his troops. The inclement weather gave Hitler cover to assemble his forces and attack in Belgium, but fair weather returned in time for Patton's army to spearhead the relief of the surrounded American forces in Bastogne. Journalist Kershaw (Against All Odds) highlights the seemingly contradictory personality of Patton, portrayed as equal parts vain, pompous, and vulgar but with a trust in God and belief in the power of prayer. Kershaw also follows the Third Army's actions from the Battle of the Bulge up to the end of the war. VERDICT This concise account of Patton and the Third Army is based on a wide array of primary and secondary sources, including Patton's own writings and military records. Readers interested in World War II history, and Patton specifically, will enjoy.--Chad E. Statler
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May 21, 2024
Kershaw follows his chronicle of the WWII Third Infantry Division, Against All Odds (2022), with the tale of the Third Army's heroic actions, starting with the Battle of the Bulge, including the siege of Bastogne in Belgium, on to the ultimate surrender of the Third Reich. This is also an in-depth look at George "Old Blood and Guts" Patton and his spiritual journey as a hard-charging warrior, leader, and devout Christian. Kershaw details the relationship between the aggressive general and the chaplains who provided solace and support to the soldiers of the Third Army. The story of Patton calling upon James O'Neil, the head chaplain, to find the best prayers for good weather, victory, peace, and the strength to persevere and then to print a prayer and distribute it to a quarter-of-a-million troops illuminates a rarely considered, more humane side of the general. Kershaw's always excellent action writing combined with incisive accounts of faith in battle makes for a new, dramatic, and noteworthy addition to his already extensive oeuvre and to all of WWII history.
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