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I learned a lot from this book. In particular Matthew Ridgway and David Petraeus. With each of the five generals Hanson gives you the background of the general before their famous battle or campaign, then the events surrounding the battle or campaign and then what happened to these generals after their famous action. He keeps it tight and pithy but still gives you a lot of information surrounding five really interesting characters.
For me the most knowledge gaining read was about Ridgway. I know almost nothing about the Korean war and those times and so that was really an interesting read for me. He covered the politics of the early 50's, how the US almost got thrown out of Korea and how this character, Ridgway, who was at a cocktail party in D.C. got tagged and overnight landed up in Korea as the key field commander their having to deal with an army that was in full retreat. Yet in 90 days he turned it around and replaced MacArthur in Japan. I had no idea how bad the situation was. My only understanding was that no one likes to talk about the Korean war.
Petraeus was an interesting read for me as well because although I was certainly living through that time (2007 - 2008) I did not know much about the general and of course current politics blurred actual events. No matter how you feel about the war in Iraq this is an informational read about how we got there and what the Surge was all about.
Hanson's write up on all five generals was really done very well. You did not get lost in the pages. He kept it crisp and concise and very interesting to read. You will learn a lot and that is always a good thing.
There is not moralizing in the book, no politics. Just the players, how they developed, how the battles developed and what happened to them afterwards. Great read.
- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing; Reprint edition (May 13, 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 160819342X
- ISBN-13: 978-1608193424
- Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 1 x 8.3 inches
- Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Customer Reviews: 210 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#211,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #245 in Iraq War History (Books)
- #446 in Military Strategy History (Books)
- #2358 in Military Leader Biographies
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