Customer Reviews

A Soldier's Story (Modern Library War)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A Soldier's Story is easily the best of the memoirs of the major Allied leaders of WWII. From D-Day to the German surrender, Bradley was in the middle of the European action and "tells it like it was", far more so than Eisenhower did in "Crusade in Europe". While Ike glosses over controversial situations and personality clashes, Bradley honestly discusses the failure to close the Falais Gap, the failure of "Market- Garden" in Holland,and the failure to detect the Ardennes offensive. In addition, Bradley graphically describes his antagonistic relationship with Montgomery and his, at times, difficulty in dealing with his subordinate, George Patton. Bradley's writing is not that of a man whose real purpose is to make friends and run for office; he writes like a man who wants to tell people his version of the momentous events of 1944-5. His story flows seamlessly and never seems self-serving, a fault of nearly every military memoir I've ever read. If you could only read 2 books on WWII, I'd recommend Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" and this book, "A Soldier's Story".

Currently, I am about 20 pages from the end of this book. It was a gift to me from the widow of a soldier that fought (and survived) in the ETO. As soon as I picked it up to look it over, I found myself drawn into Gen. Bradly's world over 50 years ago. It was difficult to put down each time I picked it up.

I read a LOT of WWII books and magazines. Usually I am most drawn to eyewitness/personal accounts of frontline combat. In this book I was fascinated by Gen. Bradley's personal account at the strategic level--the problems they faced, how they came to critical decisions, the relationships and insights into influential persons involved in the conflict.

This is a wonderful compliment to the footsoldier genre of WWII literature. I learned a lot about some aspects of combat command that I had never been exposed to before--like logistics and supply--and how important they are in decision-making. If you're interested in experiencing (vicariously) what it was like to be involved in this period of history, this book belongs as a unique part of your curriculum. No one else can tell us what it was like to be both under and over Patton in the same war, as a Corp Commander and as an Army Group Commander. And I might add that his writing is easy to enjoy.

I have rarely enjoyed a book so much. It is thoroughly engrossing, illuminating us to so many aspects of the European Theater, many of the great men of the war, and general command principles.

Bradley recounts, in some detail, battle by battle the move through Africa, Sicily, France and Germany. His account seems straightforward and humble, tackling failures of Monty (including Market Garden) Patton, and even himself in his failure to anticipate the Ardennes Offensive that led to the Battle of the Bulge.

His accounts of interactions with great men of the era such as Eisenhower, Monty, and Patton are worthwhile, but what I found fascinating were the figures new to me such as Hodges, Middleton, Ridgeway, Heubner, Gerow, Devers, and even Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. The hard-charging, do your duty feeling that was evident in this book makes me proud to be an American. It is simply amazing to see that men such as Eisenhower and Bradley moved from relative obscurity as colonels to leaders of enormous armies in some of the most important battles of history in a period of only 5 or 6 years.

An added plus are the motivational and management lessons learned from Bradley.

One suggestion: While the book is filled with helpful maps, search for WW2 Battlefield maps online and print them for reference. Keep them with you when you read Bradley's accounts. They will make following the detail of movement much easier.

After watching the movie Patton more times than I can remember, I FINALLY got to buying Gen'l Bradley's book. The new Modern Library reprint is nicely done. The maps are good and you'll notice how much more real estate the U.S. army gained as compared to Monty sauntering along the coast road. Also, within the U.S. forces, it's amazing how Patton's 3rd army gained ground and killed Germans.

Bradley writes well and this is terrific summary of the North African, Sicilian and European battles.

After reading this, I can see why two seemingly different people, Patton and Bradely, got along so well with each other in Europe. These two guys knew that attacking and encircling were the quickest ways to inflict casualties on the enemy and win the war. They did it spectacularly.

This book is the story of WWII as General Omar Bradley saw it.

His unassuming and straight forward style underscores how he is portrayed by contemporary accounts. The man known as the "G.I. General" comes across as an island of equanimity in a sea of incredible egos like Patton, Montgomery et al.

This book is Bradley's take on events. I am sure that some involved in controversies he covered (Patton's slapping incident, Montgomery at Caen, Falaise and Arnhem) would defend their actions (or inactions) vigorously. Yet this account has an aura of authenticity due to the author's lack of need to tout his own accomplishments (which were many). This inner peacefulness, along with command ability, probably explains Bradley's rise to the level of senior American ground commander in Europe.

For an insider's account of the American effort and strategic management in the European Theater of Operations, this book is superb. It is well written, clear and largely devoid of the bombast that can weigh down some combat and command accounts. Although a big book, it reads quickly.

"A Soldier's Story" is the perfect title for General of the Army Omar Nelson Bradley's account of WW2. In this book he talks of his career just previous to the outbreak of the war, of his experience as Eisenhower's "eyes and ears" in North Africa, of his command of the II Corps in Tunisia and Sicily, of his role as being either commander of the First Army and 1st (later 12th) Army Group for a time, of his impressions on Russian officers, and so.

What set this book aside from other personal accounts on WW2 is not only its wealth of facts and details, but on how it is told: as personal and passionate as a general can be. General Bradley does not only tell how things happened, but also how he felt about them. There we find his impressions on those great figures of Eisenhower, Patton, and (specially) Montgomery are remarkable, but also his appreciation for the common soldier, more specifically when disagreeing with Patton's opinion of battle fatigue being a lame excuse for cowardice. Bradley admitted that the living of a frontline soldier is harsh, where death can be found in the next step, and that the role of a commander is to balance casualties in order to keep them low in the long run, even at a cost of a higher rate from an immediate action. Interesting is how he reproduces the infantryman custom of mentioning where in the US a fellow soldier came from, like when he told about the "hedgerow cutter device" and telling that its inventor, Sgt. Curtis Cullin, came from New York. No surprise that he earned the nickname of "G.I. General".

With this respect, of telling things lively, he is unsurpassed by any American soldier or general: Eisenhower's "Crusade in Europe" seems a "bureaucratic" account when comparised with "A Soldier's Story" (sorry Ike fans). It measures up with the massive Winston Churchill's "The Second World War", which for its turn is written under a political perspective.

Anyway, I really liked a lot this book and strongly recommend it for anyone interested on WW2.

I have just finished reading Gen. Bradley's memoirs and I would rate this as one of the top five books I have ever read. I am a military member currently stationed in England and I have visited many of the sites from WWII and I wish I had found this book previously because the plaques placed at the sites cannot express the true extent of the events that took place. The details listed in this book were given in a manner that made it easy to understand and process with the text. I felt that even though this was a history book that it read with the prose of a novel. I have read many history books on both the war in the pacific and in europe and have never seen a book that got into the why's of what was going on. Most books seem to stop with the what happened, who did this, etc. . . This was written with the soldier in mind and that is why I think it is a must read. You don't see enough books going into the whys.

Note: I just finished the origianl first edition, not the recently reissued version.

Bradley's memoirs are a good way to learn of the intricacies of leadership in the highest echelons of leadership in World War II. It's the inside story on how a corps commander relates to his army commander, and how Bradley as an Army Group commander interacts with his armies, corps, and divisions, and SHAEF. To understand this (and to see how poor the Germans were at it) is to know how vital this was to winning the war, and is reason enough to plow through Bradley's dated, and less than great, writing.

Almost as important, Bradley focuses on the importance of supply, and roads, roads, roads. He won't tell you about Dogface stories and foxhole heroics, but he will tell you how battles come down to mundane things like directing traffic at a crossroads behind your own lines.

It's good to remember that Bradly wrote this book as the Korean War was in progress, and several of the officers he speaks of were still in service.

Bad turns in the war were either: not his fault, against his advice, or decisions he made that he would have made the same way if given the chance to try again. This lends to a slight air of arrogance in the narration.

And if you know the movie "Patton," you'll recognize about 10 scenes from the movie in Bradley's accounts. The script writers of "Patton" must have really loved Bradley's memoirs.

General Bradley gives us the reasons and the inside look at interactions between a commanding general and his subordinate commanders. There are plenty of issues such as logistics, strategy, and management of the battlefield that are detailed in this book. We get a bird's eye view of the strategy. Reasons are given for moving Terry Allen and Theodore Roosevelt Jr. from the command of the 1st Infantry Division to the halting of Patton from closing the Falaise Gap. In addition to this, there is plenty of anecdotes and thoughts on the leadership and characteristcs of his subordinate generals like General Hodges and General Patton. General Bradley does not spend too much time reflecting on the losses and tragedies of the war. He moves fairly quickly on the actions of the U.S. Army.

For the most part, General Bradley tends to be as objective as he can until he deals with Field Marshal Montgomery. Bradley does not hide his irritation towards Field Marshal Montgomery, who is pictured as a commander who is somewhat coddled by General Eisenhower. Field Marshal Montgomery does not seem to be a team player in the Allied command structure. Bradley gives us hints at Montgomery's selfish nature in his descriptions of the Field Marshal.

The impressive aspect of this book is General Bradley's sharp attention to details. He seems to have his handle from everything from logistics to personnel to the frontline situation.

There is plenty of discussion of the different levels of command and the units. This is balanced with numerous maps and diagrams. There are also charts on the content of a U.S. Field Army, Infantry Division, and Armored Division. These maps and diagrams help out those who are not so familiar with basic military unit sizes.

The book would be fine for both the experienced military historian or someone who is a beginner reader of World War II in the European Theater.

Omar Bradley's book wins my approval for its behind-the-scenes narrative and honest retelling of the men involved in marshalling and directing the war. It is not so much a soldier's story as a commander's story. It is not merely a biography, but it also describes the strategies of the various campaigns in the European Theater. It is powerful because it is objective, not bothering to propagandize or immortalize men such as Patton or Montgomery; enough books have already done that. Bradley gives a look at the men behind the legends and their failures and shortcomings as well as the victories and attributes that turned them into historical figures of perhaps inhuman stature.