The General and His Daughter: The War Time Letters of General James M. Gavin to his Daughter Barbara (World War II: The Global, Human, and Ethical Dimension)

Fauntleroy. Barbara Gavin

ISBN 10: 0823226875 / ISBN 13: 9780823226870

Published by Fordham University Press, 2007

About this Item

Fordham University Press hardcover in dust jacket, 2007-1st edition/1st printing, clean/tight, No tears/creases or signs of use, inscription on title page SIGNED by author else unmarked and defect free; Fine/Fine (like New). We will add a custom fitted mylar cover, bubble-wrap the book and ship it in a BOX with delivery confirmation/tracking.

Seller Inventory # 13556F

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The General and His Daughter: The War Time Letters of General James M. Gavin to his Daughter Barbara (World War II: The Global, Human, and Ethical Dimension)
• Publisher: Fordham University Press
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0823226875
• ISBN 13: 9780823226870
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

James Maurice Gavin left for war in April 1943 as a colonel commanding the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division―America’s first airborne division and the first to fight in World War II. In 1944, “Slim Jim” Gavin, as he was known to his troops, at the age of thirty-seven became the 82nd’s commanding general―the youngest Army officer to become a major general since the Civil War. At war’s end, this soldier’s soldier had become one of our greatest generals―and the 82nd’s most decorated officer.

Now James Gavin’s letters home to his nine-year-old daughter Barbara provide a revealing portrait of the American experience in World War II through the eyes of one of its most dynamic officers. Written from ship decks, foxholes, and field tents―often just before or after a dangerous jump―they capture the day-to-day realities of combat and Gavin’s personal reactions to the war he helped to win. And provide an invaluable self-portrait of a great general, and a great American, in war and peace.

The book’s more than 200 letters begin at Fort Bragg in 1943 and continue to December 1945, as Gavin came home to lead the 82nd at the head of the Victory parade in New York. This correspondence constitutes the majority of Gavin’s private wartime letters, but except for rare appearances in regimental newsletters, it has never before been published.

In her Introduction, Epilogue, and Notes, Barbara Gavin Fauntleroy gives a privileged glimpse of the private man. Edited by Gayle Wurst, the book features historical overviews by Starlyn Jorgensen, a preface by noted Gavin biographer Gerard M. Devlin, and a foreword by Rufus Broadaway, Gavin’s aide-de-camp.

About the Author

Barbara Gavin Fauntleroy is the mother of three children, Barbara, Steven, and Jim. She lives with her husband in Ridgefield, Connecticut.