15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Five Stars for a Four-Star General!, June 11, 2003
This review is from: Patton: The Man Behind the Legend, 1885-1945 (Paperback)
For readers who want a top-notch biography of Patton without committing to an 800-page or 1000-page tome, this is the book. Blumenson makes excellent use of Patton's personal letters, especially those to Patton's wife, to reveal the human side of his tough-as-nails persona. Patton with nervous indigestion? Patton feeling worthless and inferior? Who would have guessed! Highly recommended for those interested in historic figures and military history, but who don't want to get bogged down in minutae such as detailed battlefield tactics. This book focuses on the man, as it should, and not so much on the wars that made his career. That being said, my only complaint is that for the chapters about actual warfare the book could have used some basic maps of North Africa and Western Europe, especially France, showing the route of Patton's advances and major battles. I sometimes felt lost as Patton rolled through one village after another to attack the enemy.
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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
By The Man Who Served Under Patton, May 15, 2004
This review is from: Patton: The Man Behind the Legend, 1885-1945 (Paperback)
The one primary reason this ranks as the paramount biography of Patton is because the Patton family never tried to control the author. The secondary reason for the success of this biography is because the author, Blumenson, served as a young lieutenant under Patton.
I surprised about a number of facts regarding Patton. First of all, he was dyslexic, but was able to overcome that problem through hard work. He was also kicked by a horse later in life, and this may be the reason for his "unstable" and volatile character.
There are plenty of fun facts in this biography. I was surprised that Patton was an Olympic athlete in the pentathlon. I did not realise, though, that the pentathlon was built around an officer carrying dispatches (i.e., horse, sword, pistol, swimming, running). He also should have placed first, but they could not decide if his pistol round had punched through the same hole twice (so the judges counted it as a complete miss).
Patton had many doubts about his manhood. He joked, while at West Point, that he made a fine woman as a dancer. Since West Point only had men at the time, they had to trade off when learning to dance. There is also a serious character flaw in Patton regarding his niece. Although he denied it, it was pretty obvious he was having sex with his niece. This is where we, as the reading public, must give all thanks to the Patton family. They trust Blumenson so much that he is the only man they have given full access to the family papers and letters. At no point did they tell Blumenson to hide anything. They recognized that their family member was an historical figure,and insisted on a complete analysis--warts and all. Otherwise, how can you form an opinion on the man?
Blumenson ends his biography with a chapter "Behind the Legend." Patton's ideal of leadership is one key to understanding him. On page 307 he states "slef-confidence and leadership are twin brothers." As Blumenson states, "the sublime irony is that Patton's self-confidence was an act, forced and assumed, put on, riveted to his exterior."
Blumenson is quite informative and a must see. He is positive that, had Patton lived a lengthy life, he would have been discredited. He was a real embarrassment, great in war but terrible in peace. The author is also a very humble man, even though he is a retired colonel, and always makes the emphasis when he speaks about Patton.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You really couldn't ask for a better analysis of GSP., January 27, 1999
This review is from: Patton: The Man Behind the Legend, 1885-1945 (Paperback)
This is an extraordinary biography for, while Blumenson's admiration for George Patton is evident, it brilliantly illustrates all the sides of Patton's personality - both positive and negative. The book truly goes beyond the popular perception of the General -and far beyond the movie- in exploring his character and motivations. Not an overly long book, but thorough, detailed, and very enjoyable to read.
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