Review: The Generals

A weekend leisure reading review…because sometimes Pastors also need a break from heavy theological reading!  I also recommend Eisenhower’s Armies: The American-British Alliance during World War II.

Winston Groom. The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and the Winning of World War II.  Washington D.C.: National Geographic, November 10th 2015. 512 pp.

5 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

This was an enjoyable book on three important US Army Generals during World War Two.  The three men are General George S. Patton, Douglas MacArthur, and George Marshall.  Together these men played an important role for the victory of World War Two both in the Pacific and in Europe.  If you want to learn about all three men in one volume this would be it and though it is over five hundred pages I still think it is reasonable if one consider how long three separate volumes on each of these men would be, given how much they have accomplished and how important they were in the war.

The book doesn’t just cover the war but really is sort of a biography of all three men beginning from their childhood, their coming of age as young men and their pursuit of military education then military service.  I really like the book giving the background of what kind of family these men were born into.  What makes this work interesting is that you can see the comparison and contrast between these three men.  Douglas MacArthur was born to a father who was a US Army officer who had his wife and kids also with him in post that was out in the frontier of fighting Indians.  George Marshall was from a Northern background and because his older brother told his mom that he shouldn’t go to Virginia Military Institute because he believed George won’t make it this made young George even more resolve to attend VMI.  George Patton is a descendant of Southern genteel military family in which many of his ancestors fought for the Confederate side during the Civil War.  In some sense these men were quite different yet there were similarities between them.  They all had incredible resolve that made them stood out among their peers.  Patton though from a rich family face the uphill battle of battling with dyslexia.  Marshall as a “Yankee” was attending VMI which is a Southern military school with students and faculty harboring resentment towards Northerner.  Douglas MacArthur faced hazing as a young cadet at West Point and endured them.  These men also displayed their incredible giftedness as military officers during World War One when they were young military officers.  MacArthur quickly climb the ranks as an officer and eventually lead the famed 42^nd Infantry Division also nicknamed the “Rainbow Division.”  It was a National Guard outfit that many originally saw them as less than adequate being viewed as a rough group of non-professionals in comparison to the “Regular” Army.  But the unit was notorious for being combat effectiveness thanks in large part to MacArthur.  Patton on the other hand during World War One led the first US tank units during the war and was a leader in tank warfare within the US Army.  He fearlessly led his men in combat often walking ahead of his tanks.  Marshall wanted to be in the fight but in a moment that could have been detrimental to his military career he told off General Pershing for unrealistic expectations and unfair reprimand because junior commanders faced limitations from the Army’s logistics, supplies and equipment for units’ training and combat proficiencies.  Instead of relieving him General Pershing promoted Marshall and had him coordinate and plan logistics for the Army which turned out he was very gifted in doing though he wanted to be a combat commander.   In some ways what these three individuals did as young men anticipate what they were like in World War Two when they were now older.

This book has so much incredible information.  As a result of reading this work I appreciated each men a little more.  As a kid I was the biggest fan of General Patton but reading this made me thankful for the other two men as well.  I’ve grown to appreciate more of General Marshall’s balancing act in World War Two of handling various generals and their quirky personalities.  He’s one of the most selfless generals of the three in my opinion.  While I have always been cautious in my view of MacArthur this book did raise my esteem for him as I didn’t know that much about him and the more I learn the more I’m amazed at his brilliant career.  All that I say here does not mean these men are not without flaws.  On the contrary the book discusses their flaws and shortcomings.  A wonderful book that I highly recommend.