Eisenhower

Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II / the Violent Century: War Leader #9

by Martin Blumenson

Ballantine's Illustrated History of the Violent Century, War Leader Book No. 9

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Martin Blumenson was a soldier in the US army, and a military historian, and a recognised authority on the life of Gen. George S. Patton Jr.

Blumenson received a Bachelors and Masters degree from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He received a second master's degree in history from Harvard University. He also was an exellent pianist, performing at Carnegie Hall as a young man.

He served as a U.S. Army officer in northwestern Europe during World War II.
After the war he lived in France for a number of years, where he met his wife of 55 years, Genevieve Adelbert Blumenson, who died in 2000.

Blumenson again served with the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and later worked in the Office of the Chief of Military History until 1967. After this he became an adviser on civil disorders for the Johnson administration.

Reviews

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

When asked her opinion of Dwight Eisenhower the president Eleanor Roosevelt replied, "he had a great reputation...as a general". Note that Mrs. R. did not say he was a great general. Martin Blumenson, historian of the North Africa campaign that first brought Ike into the public consciousness at home begs to differ. General George Marshall picked Eisenhower to lead SHAEF during the war over dozens of higher officers in the chain of command precisely because Ike had leadership qualities and the guts to insist on his view of warfare. He fired the American general responsible for the disaster at Kasserine Pass in 1943 and replaced him with Patton. Eisenhower insisted the British army take the lead in the North Africa and Italian campaigns but that the roles and responsibility be reversed at Normandy. (Ike erred monumentally, however, in picking General Mark Clark to command US forces on the Italian mainland.) After D-Day he stood his ground against Churchill and Montgomery in executing a broad front strategy from France through the Low Countries and into Germany rather than a single thrust aimed at Berlin. This was the same man Harry Truman dismissed for merely "being good at conducting meetings" during the war. If only Ike had shown such vision and tenacity in the presidency.

[Michael Bistrica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of Ballantine's History of World War 2 and they are some of the best books written about the war. This book about Eisenhower is their series on World War 2 leaders. I think I read this book back in the late 1970s when I was in college. Ballantine color coded the books according to what the book covered; I believe the color for leaders was a purple. This book isn't long, but it gives the reader the insight of how and what help shaped Eisenhower in his early life to became General Eisenhower and reached the level to become Supreme Commander for Allied Forces in Europe. It also covers the issues he faced in balancing competing ideas and approaches to the war from his American Generals vs what the British and French wanted.