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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent biography,
By
This review is from: George C. Marshall: Education of a General, 1880-1939 (Paperback)
This is volume I of a four volume biography of General Marshall. I'm not sure I will read the other volumes as I have read extensively about World War II. Maybe I will because this is so well done. An interesting sidelight is the suspicion the Anton Myrer might have used this biography as a source for his wonderful novel, "Once An Eagle. The stories about Marshall and much of the story of the First World War are here in this biography. Pogue spends considerable time on Marshall's childhood in Uniontown PA. He tells the poignant story of his first wife who was crippled by mitral valve disease but who provided George with a quiet family life, which is what he liked. She died suddenly just as he was about to rise in the army after 30 years of being passed over for lesser men. Once again, much of the story of the peacetime army between the wars can also be found in Myrer's novel and I would encourage anyone interested to read both books. The story ends as Marshall is named army Chief of Staff on the brink of World War II. It is highly recommended.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO SOMEONE WHO CHANGED THE COURSE OF AMERICAN HISTORY,
By
This review is from: George C. Marshall: Education of a General, 1880-1939 (Paperback)
Technically speaking, George C. Marshall: Education of a General 1880 - 1939 by Forrest C. Progue is not a comprehensive biography but rather a study of the experiences that shaped the mind of someone who became the leader of the Army during World War II and Secretary of State and Defense during very challenging times during the development and implementation of the containment policy. Perhaps, Gen Marshall felt that a biography sponsored by the think tank/academic foundation that bore his name was both egotistical and not as productive as a study of how one grows to fill some of the most difficult jobs imaginable. Regardless, Mr. Progue takes a broad-brush view of what education means so that we see the formative experiences of Gen Marshalls childhood, personal life, and, to a certain extant, social life that have contributed to shaping his worldview and intellectual biases.
The only real critique that I can make about this semi-biography is that it was done by someone who obviously deeply admired Marshall. As such, you will not read about his secret vices or weaknesses of character. One can only conjecture at what urges drove Marshall to buy the most expensive luxury car on the market when he was selected for Brigadier General. His health issues are also a matter of concern. Should he have stepped aside and let a healthier man take the senior leadership roles in the Army? Latter in his career - 1939 through 1941, General Marshall ruthlessly drove elderly (over 60) Colonels (because Patton was commissioned at age 25 instead of the more normal 21-22, he was given a waiver) and unfit General officers out of the military. How did he reconcile that with the health issues that under the same scrutiny would have ended his career in the mid-thirties? Some of the characters in this book were surprises to me. I had already heard about Fox Connor and how he was one of the guiding intellectual forces in shaping the pre-World War II army. I was unaware of Major John F Morrison. He was one of the intellectual lights that took the lessons learned of the Wars of German Unification and the Spanish American War and turned them into not only new doctrine, but new ways of thinking and understanding the nature of warfare. Indeed, his teaching was so intense that a decade later his students could compare and contrast the battles of the Franco-Prussian War to the ongoing battles in World War I without notes or even reference to maps. Additionally, while Marshall and Progue take great pains not to criticize some of Marshall's peers and near peers, some negative comments, perhaps unjustly, leak in. For example, Progue (or perhaps Marshall) obviously disapproved of one of the commanding generals in China and singled out his rough and abrasive behavior as well as questioning his focus on back-braking marches and physical fitness. This reviewer (and perhaps General Stilwell - who was part of the American Army in China when Marshall was there, see Stilwell and the American Experience in China) believes that the General in question was abrasive to the other foreign militaries and dignitaries to highlight the unique and, more or less, selfless goals of America as opposed to the other foreign powers that maintained troops in China. Additionally, the brutal physical training was clearly a technique to deal with drug addiction and alcoholism among the ranks. Overall, this is an excellent book that provides unique insight on American history. First, it shows the growing professionalism of the American Army from 1900 - 1939. Second, it reflects the nature of civil-military affairs over a period when most considered the Army an anachronism from the Indian Wars and a temptation for civilian leaders to engage on foreign adventures. Third, it shows the skills necessary to rise to great responsibility in a complex bureaucracy. For any of these reasons, this book should be required reading for military historians and military officers.
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