GENERAL IN COMMAND: The Life of Major General John B. Anderson

by Michael M. Van Ness

“In General In Command, Van Ness presents a vivid biography of Major General John B. Anderson and his rise to the top. —Ambassador Frank Lavin, author of Home Front to Battlefront: An Ohio Teenager in World War II

 

Prime Minister Winston Churchill crossed the Rhine River on March 25th, 1945. His presence was calculated to emphasize the British role in the defeat of the Germans and to divert attention away from Patton and the Americans who had crossed the Rhine at Remagen two weeks earlier. 

Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower had warned his commanders that Churchill would seek to steal the limelight. Eisenhower ordered his commanders to refuse any requests to cross the Rhine; “The answer must be NO!” But when Eisenhower and Bradley left, the Prime Minister seized his chance. This photograph caught the moment and was printed on the front page of newspapers around the world.

Once again, the wily Prime Minister had captured the world’s attention at the expense of the Americans. The joint American, Canadian, and British operation appeared to be primarily a triumph of British arms. Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton were furious. Eisenhower could do nothing about the Prime Minister, but he never forgave the American generals involved. And General Eisenhower had other things on his mind.

It took ten years and an act of Congress for General William Simpson to receive the fourth star due him as Commanding General of the US Ninth Army. Major General John B. Anderson still waits his third star as Commanding General US XVI Corps. 

In the meantime, General in Command: The Life of Major General John B. Anderson is his triumphant story from the Iowa cornfields to command of the largest combat corps in Europe in the Second World War.

305 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 24, 2019

Reviews

[Joy Kidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

From an Iowa farm to West Point Academy. From the Mexican Incursion through World War I. Rising through the ranks, commanding an infantry division and the XVI Corps in the Battle of the Bulge and crossing the Rhine. From dining at the White House with President Harding to the Army War College with Dwight Eisenhower. From lunches with Winston Churchill to Nazi camps in Poland after the war. Amazing American history, woven with many intimate letters to his wife and daughter, written by his grandson.

I first learned about this fine history from a recent article about General John B. Anderson in the "Iowa History Journal."

[Bill Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good biography, but it would have been better if General Anderson would have kept more of his papers.

[Michael Van Ness · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authenticity of the letters accentuates the wartime memories; vivid, first-hand, unvarnished accounts of the mundane, and the monumental. From gas attacks in Picardy in WWI to crossing the Rhine with Winston Churchill, Anderson saw it all. Van Ness brings it alive with direct writing that puts world events into perspective. A must read for students of WWII history, fans of West Point, and wives of military officers.