Patton''s War, Volume 2: An American General''s Combat Leadership: AugustDecember 1944

This second of three volumes of Pattons Warpicks up where the first one left off, examining General George S. Pattons leadership of the U.S. Third Army. The book follows Pattons contributions to both the Normandy and Brittainy campaigns; the closing of the Falaise Pocket in Normandy, and racing to the port cities in Brittainy. With the Pocket closed, Patton led his army to Nancy and Metz along the Moselle River, where he quickly captured the former and laid siege to the latter, forcing its surrender after three months of heavy combat. Now Patton planned for a war-winning campaign, interrupted by Hitlers last, desperate attempt to win the war, the Battle of the Bulge. After some delays, Patton turned two of his corps north and attacked the southern flank of the Bulge, rescuing the besieged town of Bastogne.
 
As he did in the preceding volume, in Volume 2 Hymel relies not only on Pattons diaries and letters, but countless veteran interviews, as well as veteran surveys and veteran memoirs to offer the most complete picture to date of Patton in World War II. Volume 2 also provides a unique insight missed by previous Patton authors. Instead of using Pattons transcribed diaries, which were heavily embellished, Hymel consults Pattons original, hand-written diaries to get the true story of how Patton felt and what he thought about people and events. Among the history-changing revelations gleaned from the original diaries is that Patton never predicted the Battle of the Bulge (his wife added his prediction of it in November 1944) and even tried to avoid being sucked into the last major campaign of the war.
 
The book also reveals General George C. Marshalls influence on the European Theater of Operations; Operation Tink, the bombing campaign intended to break Patton out of the Saar region and help him reach the Rhine River, which had to be shelved due to the Bulge; and a thorough retelling of the Verdun meeting between Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, and Devers, as they planned how to fight the Battle of the Bulge.
 
Lastly, the book shows Patton at the height of his generalship, successfully leading his army into combat without the same types of mistakes and caustic behavior that almost got him sent home earlier. This is a Patton who takes risks because he understands his troops and the enemy, who visits PTSD wounded in the hospitals, who is constantly trying to motivate his men, and who is the continual student of war, always yearning to understand more. Unfortunately, this is also the Patton still guided by his racism and antisemitism. See more