General Patton: A Soldier's Life – The Most Balanced Portrait of WWII's Brilliant and Complex Commander

“The most complete biography of [Patton] yet produced.” –Chicago
Tribune

Utilizing untapped archival materials from
the United States and England, Stanley P. Hirshson creates the most balanced
portrait of Patton ever written.

General Patton: A Soldier’s Life reveals
Patton as a complex soldier capable of brilliant military maneuvers but also of
inspiring horrendous acts with fiery speeches. It explains Patton’s belief in a
soldier’s Valhalla, connects the family’s wealth to one of America’s bitterest
labor strikes, and disputes the usual interpretation of Patton’s relief from
command of the Third Army.

While investigating this complex man, Hirshson has
uncovered surprising material about a series of civilian and military massacres
in Sicily, attempts to exploit Patton’s diary after his death, and Patton’s
relations with top Allied generals. In this meticulously documented volume,
Patton comes to life.

Stanley P. Hirshson was professor of history at Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the author of biographies of Brigham Young, Gen. William T. Sherman, and Gen. George Patton, and died in 2003.