Patton: The Man Behind the Legend, 1885-1945

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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 355.0092 EAN: 9780688137953 ISBN: 0688137954 Label: Harper Perennial Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 320 Publication Date: 1994-11-29 Publisher: Harper Perennial Release Date: 1994-11-29 Studio: Harper Perennial
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Editorial Reviews: This magnificent biography by the world's foremost expert on the life of George S. Patton portrays the many faces of the general with uncompromising insight: the gruff, demanding public front known (and feared) by millions; the sensitive, intellectual visage shown to intimates; and the self-conscious, emotional, religious man only a handful of people ever met. Martin Blumenson deftly explores the life of this American hero, a paradoxical man who inspired others to greatness but who sometimes questioned the greatness within himself. Illustrated with 64 photographs, many from the Patton family archives, Patton: The Man Behind the Legend, 1885-1945 is a dramatic and memorable portrait of a complex American hero, a man called "the greatest combat general of modern times."
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Thorough Character Study Comment: Blumenson holds no punches in evaluating Patton, faults and all. His work is incisive and thorough. Customer Rating: Summary: A Good Short Patton Bio Comment: This is a great short bio of Patton. Blumenson paints him as a fragile, yet great leader and how those two worked back and forth. His last few pages are a great summary: "...one of America's greatest soldiers, one of the world's great captains." I read this book for a master's class and it provides two great take aways: 1. Insight into his early life--Patton grew up in a displaced Virginian family in California. His views of his family and himself shaped him as a military figure. 2. The interaction of his fragile and volitile personality with his outer shell which strove for personal excellence and glory for his family. It's very hard to write on Patton without taking a side--either critical of him or supporting him. Thus, the Patton family did endorse this bio, but there are pro-Patton themes (prejudice), especially in his interaction with Bradley and Eisenhower (my only downgrade of the book). This is a very good book to use as a baseline for further study. Worth a spot in your library. Customer Rating: Summary: Witty, coherent, humerous: Wonderful Comment: For most, Patton is a well known name, familiar; but like most, I knew nothing more than the impact of the mythology and short squibs about his commanding manners as one of the most powerful and important Army Generals of the 20th century. The author, whom I have never heard of or fully know the relationship between him and Patton, was the staff historian in Patton's Third Army during WWII. As such, I assumed a much biased portrayal, good or bad. Instead, I found a well-thought, well delivered description of man so driven that he accomplished anything he wanted. A man so volatile yet thoughtful, a masterful and brilliant tactian born to lead with no fear of death and wanting a fight, driven to succeed at any cost and sacrificing everything but his own strict morals so that he could achieve all that Destiny had set for him, because he was destined to be great. This was a man entirely devoted to the ideology of the Warrior mold, never modeling himself on any one great legend or man, Patton followed the path of the idea of being a warrior and gave it his life. Always questioning himself, not always sure he was 'the man', Patton had an unshakable believe in himself and Fate that is truly awesome and inspring. From his early upbringing--one of wealth, privilege and good breeding--up along to each promotion and to his eventual death, Blumenson gives a personal touch to the aura that was Patton, eloquent, acerbic, devoted to his soldiers but also, the Patton that could sometimes blow up in one's face. Of the biographies that I have read, I haven't chuckled and earmarked more pages that I wanted to remember. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and couldn't stop until I finished. Reading the highs of Patton's life and career made me cheer and reading the harrowing blows made me shake my head in wonder and lament along with Patton. Biases? Only in one case: The author choicely slips in a reason for Patton's up and down mood swings that latter crippled his career and made him as infamous as his military stamina, accident prone and usually in the head, Blumenson believed that the mood swings were result from subdural hemotoma, a building of blood pressure around the brain. There's nothing conclusive, merely supposition, but entirely plausible. The writing style is straightforward, although sometimes awkward, but because Blumenson had first had account of Patton, in both images, it had more intimacy, made less formal. Even more interesting were the many photos of Patton throughout his life, in various dress and events that brought what Blumeson wrote about come to life. Even battle scenes were described in layman's terms, easy to follow and interesting--though maps would have been a nice touch. The back has a comprehensive index that I found helpful when I wanted to go over parts for memory. A definite must read! Customer Rating: Summary: A great book on a George Patton Comment: This biography starts with Patton's family roots, covers his growing up years, and works through his career in the military. The book is only about 300 pages and is a fairly quick read. There are lots of pictures. Patton grew up in California, his father was Old South gentry, and his mother's father was a fairly rich self made man. Patton idealized his military roots. Fairly early in life Patton wanted to become famous and felt the honorable way was to do so in the army. Patton appears to have had dyslexia. School was a struggle for him which he overcame through hard work. As a teenager Patton meet Beatrice Ayer who later become his wife. She was from a rich family. Through her emotional support Patton was able to keep struggling all his life against his self doubts. Without her support it doesn't sound like Patton would have been nearly as successful. They had two daughters and a son. The kind of character description of Patton this book gives is a gifted man who was focused on himself. He wanted glory and he wanted to be known. He wanted to be famous. He often did things to make sure he was noticed. He pulled strings to get the attention of higher commanding officers. Also unfortunately he wasn't faithful to his wife. There were a couple mentions of how many condoms he used in a short period. Patten had a long affair with his niece. And after he died, the niece killed herself. She left a note that she would be with Uncle Georgia before Beatrice. Strategically and tactically George Patton seemed to have been almost without peer. He studied war for over forty years. But his greater gift may have been his ability to train and motivate large groups of soldiers. In two instances Patton was given an army and fairly quickly he improved the level of performance several levels. The Third Army, which was under his command from after D-Day to the end of the war, was largely an untrained and unseasoned group of men. But they took the most number of prisoners, and moved the quickest across dozens of miles in a day. George Patton seems to have consciously taken on an act of swearing and cussing to be at the level of the common solider, but then when he meet with his officers he was much more refined. He told his Third Army they were different, he told them they were on a righteous cause, and he asked a lot of them. They came through. Over all George Patton comes across as a flawed person who achieved some greatness. Martin Blumenson did a good job in giving the reader insight into the life and character of George Patton. Customer Rating: Summary: By The Man Who Served Under Patton Comment: The one primary reason this ranks as the paramount biography of Patton is because the Patton family never tried to control the author. The secondary reason for the success of this biography is because the author, Blumenson, served as a young lieutenant under Patton. I surprised about a number of facts regarding Patton. First of all, he was dyslexic, but was able to overcome that problem through hard work. He was also kicked by a horse later in life, and this may be the reason for his "unstable" and volatile character. There are plenty of fun facts in this biography. I was surprised that Patton was an Olympic athlete in the pentathlon. I did not realise, though, that the pentathlon was built around an officer carrying dispatches (i.e., horse, sword, pistol, swimming, running). He also should have placed first, but they could not decide if his pistol round had punched through the same hole twice (so the judges counted it as a complete miss). Patton had many doubts about his manhood. He joked, while at West Point, that he made a fine woman as a dancer. Since West Point only had men at the time, they had to trade off when learning to dance. There is also a serious character flaw in Patton regarding his niece. Although he denied it, it was pretty obvious he was having sex with his niece. This is where we, as the reading public, must give all thanks to the Patton family. They trust Blumenson so much that he is the only man they have given full access to the family papers and letters. At no point did they tell Blumenson to hide anything. They recognized that their family member was an historical figure,and insisted on a complete analysis--warts and all. Otherwise, how can you form an opinion on the man? Blumenson ends his biography with a chapter "Behind the Legend." Patton's ideal of leadership is one key to understanding him. On page 307 he states "slef-confidence and leadership are twin brothers." As Blumenson states, "the sublime irony is that Patton's self-confidence was an act, forced and assumed, put on, riveted to his exterior." Blumenson is quite informative and a must see. He is positive that, had Patton lived a lengthy life, he would have been discredited. He was a real embarrassment, great in war but terrible in peace. The author is also a very humble man, even though he is a retired colonel, and always makes the emphasis when he speaks about Patton. More Reviews