Patton's Drive: The Making of America's Greatest General - Hardcover

Axelrod, Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 159921539X ISBN 13: 9781599215396

Publisher: Lyons Pr, 2009

Synopsis

Patton’s Drive tells the story of how a young man born to war who believed himself the literal incarnation of all great warriors past became a modern American general: in terms of enemy killed or captured, territory taken, and people liberated, the greatest field commander of World War II.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Military Book ClubŪ Main Selection
History Book ClubŪ Featured Alternate  In nine months and eight days of campaigning during World War II, the Third United States Army of George S. Patton Jr. moved faster and farther, killed or captured more of the enemy, and liberated more cities, towns, and villages than any other army in World War II and, quite possibly, in the history of warfare. In Patton’s Drive, acclaimed historian Alan Axelrod tells the story of how a young man who, in the words of Dwight D. Eisenhower, was born to be a soldier” who believed himself to be the incarnation and summation of great warriors past became a modern American general and one of the greatest field commanders of the twentieth century.
 
Beginning with a dramatic account of Patton’s magnificent drive across Europe during World War II, Alan Axelrod looks back to the decades before the war and traces the trajectory that revealed the commander’s fighting destiny. There was the youthful lieutenant who pursued the guerrillas of Pancho Villa deep into Mexico, and the colonel who, only a year later, led America’s first tank corps against the Germans in World War I. Axelrod also details how the two decades of peace between the world wars were, for Patton, a purgatory of physical and emotional torment, relieved only by what was for him the life-giving violence of desperate global combat. For all that has been written about George S. Patton Jr., his formative years, though narrated by others, have escaped close analysis. In a refreshingly clear, colloquial voice, Axelrod leads us through the determining episodes of Patton’s life and the results they produced. In doing so he weaves a story rich with new insights a story as absorbing as a great novel, but one in which history truly comes alive.

From the Back Cover

AN UNPRECEDENTED EXPLORATION OF
THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF A LEGENDARY
AMERICAN WARRIOR PRAISE FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS BY ALAN AXELROD For Patton: A Biography
Like Patton at his best: polished, precise, and persuasive.”
Kirkus Reviews  Concise, incisive, and authoritative . . . a clear and entertaining biography of the famous general. . . . Axelrod has cut through the politics and chaff to get to the man.”
Robert K. Wilcox, best-selling author of First Blue and Wings of Fury
 
Axelrod has captured Patton’s checkered legacy in a balanced biography.”
Publishers Weekly  Patton’s race across France has become legendary, but Mr. Axelrod reminds readers that it was the result of careful planning.” Washington Times  For Miracle at Belleau Wood
Axelrod brings us back vividly to the shocking casualties of the war to end all wars,’ opening up fresh insights into the nature of the fighting and the decisions that shaped a generation.”
Bing West, author of No True Glory and the coauthor of the award-winning The March Up, former Assistant Secretary of Defense  Alan Axelrod has perfectly captured the embodiment of U.S. Marines and their unparalleled Esprit de Corps. . . . A must read!”
Jay Kopelman, author of the best-selling From Baghdad with Love  Alan Axelrod is one of America’s great military historians. . . . He pushes you right into the action, onto the battlefield, and never lets up.”
Paul B. Farrell, J.D., Ph.D., former Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps

About this edition

• Publisher: Lyons Pr
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 159921539X
• ISBN 13: 9781599215396
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 287