Customer Reviews

Patton's Photographs: War as He Saw It

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4 star:		(2)
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There are several famous photographs of Patton with his camera around his neck. It never occurred to me that if he carried the camera he probably used it, and if he used it, the pictures would be interesting to see. It apparently never occurred to anyone else until Mr. Hymel found some references to Patton's Photo Albums in the Library of Congress.

The result is this book. Patton was not the best photographer ever. The pictures taken by the professionals of the U.S. Army Signal Corps of Patton (a few are included in this book) are better. But what Patton's pictures show is not the great technical quality of the pictures, it is the content that interested Patton.

Patton was the consumate general. He was concerned with the equipment of the enemy - and here are pictures of German tanks. He was concerned with things like how his army moved - and here are pictures of his soldiers building bridges.

I have seen the George C. Scott movie of course. This book follows the same general path. What's interesting is to see it as Patton saw it himself. This is a fascinating book that belongs in any World War II book collection.

This book is great. Not only does the reader get a general history of Patton, but also many, many photographs taken by the great General himself! It is amazing to think that when you are looking at these photos, you are really seeing what Patton saw! Imagine what it would be like of Julius Caesar, George Washington, or Napoleon had carried a camera so that we could see what they saw. Well, essentially, that is what this book is - it allows you to see what a great hero saw.

I congratulate Mr Hymel on his wonderful find, and encourage all who are interested in Patton or just WWII in general to take a look at this great book...

Excellent book - would recommend to any fan or person interested in General George S. Patton. Photographs show his interest and focus as he battled through WW 2.

Throw away all of the previous biographies of Patton (and Patton's own posthumously published diaries) regarding his exploits in World War II unless you read them in conjunction with, and in light of, this book, which stems from an historian's treasure trove of 15 oversized albums of photographs by Patton and other memorabilia he sent to his wife during World War II, often with stories behind the photos and mementos. (His wife, and then one of his daughters after the slapping incidents[s] in Sicily, helped to put the albums together.)

Patton's photo collections, for reasons that are best explained by prior biographers of Patton, lanquished untouched, unviewed, and unused in any history of Patton until the author of this book discovered them in the U.S. Library of Congress in 1996 and was eventually able to publish this selection of those materials in 2006.

The result is an unparalled insight into the mind of one of the greatest military visionaries, strategists, and tacticians of his, or any other, generation.

You cannot claim to understand Patton and his mindset unless, and until, you see the war from his perspective, which this book does in an astounding way as it includes about 150 photographs taken by Patton of things he found to be of interest as he and his armies progressed from North Africa to Sicily to France to Germany.

Also included are about 75 other photographs relating to Patton and his military adventures, including photos taken of him by others and maps/diagrams on which he outlined his strategies and tactics.

The book basically tells the otherwise well-known story of Patton in his various campaigns, beginning in North Africa in November 1942, to the end of the Third Reich and Patton's brief post-war experiences until his untimely death in December 1945 from a vehicle accident (his famous, almost last words, when the doctors arrived on the scene were: "I think I'm paralyzed" [he was, from the neck down and died from complications 11 days later]).

Each chapter of the book is enriched by numerous sidebars about Patton and those around him as well as enhanced by footnotes for the many quotations by, and anecdotes about, Patton sprinkled liberally throughout the text and the captions of the photographs.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I have read dozens and dozens of photographic histories relating to World War II on a wide, wide variety of topics (not to mention hundreds of standard works and texts and the not too occasional foray into historical fiction). (In this regard I disagree with those people who believe - mistakenly - that a book is somehow beneath them and has nothing to offer unless it is a dry, poorly written, dusty tome devoid of illustrations and about some minuscule aspect of history that more often than not fails to put its subject matter into any kind of context because the author suffers from the syndrome of being unable to see the forest for the trees.) This stands out far and above as the best photographic history that I can recall, especially as it relates to a specific person or subject. It is must reading (and viewing) by any serious student of Patton or World War II in general.

He was my Grandfather and this is excellent work. Job well done.
George Patton Waters

Caveat Emptor - The book is a "Book Club Edition". Meaning it has poor quality binding - no cloth backing/stitching. Not sure why they did that. Bought this as a gift so it's a pity they cheaped-out in this regard.

The paper is high enough quality for the photos they present. Well rendered with appropriate captioning. I echo the good points expressed by the other reviewers.

It has a nicely written forward by Martin Blumenson that gives a thumbnail sketch of General Patton and a fair compliment to the book's author for his work.

SirP

Update: 8-2-2010
Not sure anyone will actually read this review but I got a couple of relevant bits of info from the gift recipient. Typos are to be found in this book - pages 104 and 110 to name just two. Also page 77 of the copy I bought has a printing error that folded a small portion of the page causing it to be cut wrong and then tear when bound.

These things happen but this book is top-end priced and it is not top-end quality. Did I exchange it or get a refund? No, this book was given as a gift and for a top-end book I shouldn't have these types of problems. You see this in pulp-fiction runs all the time but then you, as a consumer, are paying pulp-fiction prices.

Patton's Photographs War as He Saw It


Author Kevin M. Hymel
Publisher Potomac Books

ISBN 1 57488-871-4 Hardcover
Pp 137
Pictures
List Price Hardcover $39.95 also available in Soft Cover

Wow, the book Patton's Photographs War as He Saw It is a unique book. I have read many books about Patton but never had he taken pictures to document his war time experiences. I thought I knew Patton but I did not realize how much I did not know about him. Patton's photographs tell his story from his campaigns in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany.
At a recent AUSA (Association of the United States Army) meeting, I was fortunate to hear Kevin Hymel speak about his book and show some of the photos he used in illustrate the book. Hymel spent seven years researching this. It is not just only just photo book but descriptions of the photos and the events that they represent. Kevin Hymel tells how he stumbled on some of Patton's photographs while researching another project. He was surprised at the amount of previously unpublished photos available. The author used a collection of fifteen volumes of Patton's photographs. The reader learns that Patton refused to take pictures of deceased American GIs, but would take pictures of the dead German soldiers and their blown up equipment. Patton often took photos of enemy tanks and make notes about their armor and their ability to withstand a hit from a weapon system. He forwarded the photos and notes to Aberdeen Proving Grounds so they could make improvements on our tanks.
If you have read Patton's history take a look at this book. Descriptions of campaigns and battle maps that Patton participated in will give you a good over view. The photos in this book bring Patton to life. Patton will always be remembered for his good and bad actions. I just hope the good outweighs the bad.

Patton's was a front line soldier and if you look at the pictures you will see him in the thick of things. Patton's Photographs War as He Saw is IT worth taking the time to read and discover a Patton that we did not know.

MAJ (ret) Eric Shuler NJARNG

We purchased it for my father in Law. He served in the Pacific, But loves to read about what happened in Europe. He loved the book.