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An enthralling biography of the tireless WWII infantry leader who became popularly known as ‘the G.I.’s General.’
Perfect for enthusiasts of the works of Carlo D’Este, Jean Edward Smith and Craig L. Symonds.
At the age of fifty Bradley was a career officer who had never seen a day of action on the battlefield. Yet, by the end of the war, he had led American soldiers through some of the bloodiest fighting of World War Two — the final defeat of the Germans’ Afrika Korps, the invasion of Sicily, and the historic Normandy invasion, before leading the advance across the Rhine.
Despite being such an instrumental leader of World War Two he was a modest man, professing only to do the best he could for his calling and his country.
How did this quiet and unassuming teacher from West Point rise to become the commander of the Twelfth United States Army Group, which ultimately comprised forty-three divisions and over one million troops, the largest American force ever united under one man’s command? And how did he come to be known as ‘the G.I.’s General’?
Charles Whiting’s enthralling overview of Bradley and his career uncovers what he was like as a person, providing insight into his actions and leadership during the course of World War Two, before discussing his post-war career as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff through the course of the Korean War.
‘Military hero, courageous in battle, and gentle in spirit, friend of the common soldier, General of the Army, first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he embodies the best of the American military tradition with dignity, humanity, and honor.’ President Gerald Ford
Bradley should be essential reading for anyone interested by this influential but often overlooked general of the Second World War.
Perfect for enthusiasts of the works of Carlo D’Este, Jean Edward Smith and Craig L. Symonds.
At the age of fifty Bradley was a career officer who had never seen a day of action on the battlefield. Yet, by the end of the war, he had led American soldiers through some of the bloodiest fighting of World War Two — the final defeat of the Germans’ Afrika Korps, the invasion of Sicily, and the historic Normandy invasion, before leading the advance across the Rhine.
Despite being such an instrumental leader of World War Two he was a modest man, professing only to do the best he could for his calling and his country.
How did this quiet and unassuming teacher from West Point rise to become the commander of the Twelfth United States Army Group, which ultimately comprised forty-three divisions and over one million troops, the largest American force ever united under one man’s command? And how did he come to be known as ‘the G.I.’s General’?
Charles Whiting’s enthralling overview of Bradley and his career uncovers what he was like as a person, providing insight into his actions and leadership during the course of World War Two, before discussing his post-war career as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff through the course of the Korean War.
‘Military hero, courageous in battle, and gentle in spirit, friend of the common soldier, General of the Army, first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he embodies the best of the American military tradition with dignity, humanity, and honor.’ President Gerald Ford
Bradley should be essential reading for anyone interested by this influential but often overlooked general of the Second World War.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1971
177 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Charles Whiting
261 books53 followersCharles Whiting was a British writer and military historian and with some 350 books of fiction and non-fiction to his credit, under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms including Ian Harding, Duncan Harding, K.N. Kostov, John Kerrigan, Klaus Konrad, and Leo Kessler.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 12, 2024
This is a very odd biography. It covers only his WWII experience. The only coverage of anything before is to give that context and his post WWII career is barely mentioned. The book is indirect to the point of being passive aggressive.
It covers Bradley in a mostly indirect way. It does not cover his main responsibilities or actions but how they related to the leaders (Ike, Montgomery, Patton) around him. The main focus is how to tried to restore his reputation after the Battle of the Bulge.
The main point of the book seems to me to be that Patton kept getting entangled in situations that mandated he get more supplies and therefore hindered Montgomery's efforts.
The author also believes the post Rhine crossing on preventing a German Southern Redoubt was largely a way of putting brakes on Montgomery and re-focusing the final campaign on US efforts.
The narrator of the audio book was okay but his efforts are deeply marred by mispronunciations multiple times of common (to historians) words; Verdun, Ardennes, Danube and Remagen
It covers Bradley in a mostly indirect way. It does not cover his main responsibilities or actions but how they related to the leaders (Ike, Montgomery, Patton) around him. The main focus is how to tried to restore his reputation after the Battle of the Bulge.
The main point of the book seems to me to be that Patton kept getting entangled in situations that mandated he get more supplies and therefore hindered Montgomery's efforts.
The author also believes the post Rhine crossing on preventing a German Southern Redoubt was largely a way of putting brakes on Montgomery and re-focusing the final campaign on US efforts.
The narrator of the audio book was okay but his efforts are deeply marred by mispronunciations multiple times of common (to historians) words; Verdun, Ardennes, Danube and Remagen
July 28, 2025
Well I feel I don't really know too much more about Bradley after reading this book than I did before. This, of course, is the author's issue as well - we just don't know enough about the man which is...baffling. He did his job and he followed orders. His biggest contribution was giving Patton the baton and letting him run with it into the south of Germany. The book mainly starts during the D-Day invasion and kind of glosses over Bradley's decision to not utilize the specialty tanks that were used at the other beaches. Anyway, my gripe with this is that 80% of the book focuses on the campaign and not the man and only really examines him in the last chapter. After such a good analysis of Stilwell in this series, this one is kind of a letdown on the biography side but good for seeing how decisions were made from D-Day to Germany's surrender.
February 18, 2023
Good Book
The review of Omar Bradley was good, I wish he went more in depth about Bradley personal life and how it shaped his life as a soldier. Overall, good book with great analysis of the general versus his contemporaries. I enjoyed his analysis of Monty. Which was of the best I read.
The review of Omar Bradley was good, I wish he went more in depth about Bradley personal life and how it shaped his life as a soldier. Overall, good book with great analysis of the general versus his contemporaries. I enjoyed his analysis of Monty. Which was of the best I read.
December 24, 2023
A history of an American General under stress
General Omar Bradley is chronicled in this page-turner of a biographical history. Never given to the “Great Man” theory of history this account nonetheless details a man under the stress of war making strategic and tactical decisions with the foot soldiers under his command and posterity in mind.
General Omar Bradley is chronicled in this page-turner of a biographical history. Never given to the “Great Man” theory of history this account nonetheless details a man under the stress of war making strategic and tactical decisions with the foot soldiers under his command and posterity in mind.
February 1, 2023
too easy on Montgomery.
Informative but not exciting. Spends a lot of time on political maneuverings of the various battlefield commanders. As most books do it offered way too many excuses for Montgomery’s egotistically behavior.
Informative but not exciting. Spends a lot of time on political maneuverings of the various battlefield commanders. As most books do it offered way too many excuses for Montgomery’s egotistically behavior.
February 1, 2023
Magnificent!
One of the top 5 best books I have read about WW2, especially since I was not that familiar with General Bradley.
One of the top 5 best books I have read about WW2, especially since I was not that familiar with General Bradley.
July 20, 2023
This book was a bit pedantic and although the historic information was interesting it made Mitchner's histories appear frivolous in contrast. I just cannot recommend.
September 11, 2024
The people’s GI
He did his job. He had a persona of modesty, but used the talents of subordinates, such as Patton to accomplish his objectives
He did his job. He had a persona of modesty, but used the talents of subordinates, such as Patton to accomplish his objectives
November 23, 2023
Bradley
General Omar Bradley was a different kind of leader during the Second World War. He commanded two different generals in the European war to drive Back the occupation of German forces throughout Europe. The men were different in the countries they fought and the methods used to accomplish their goal. General Omar Bradley lead General Montgomery, representing Britain, the French general that represented the free French army, and general, George Patton, that lead the American troops through Italy, and into Germany.
General Omar Bradley was a different kind of leader during the Second World War. He commanded two different generals in the European war to drive Back the occupation of German forces throughout Europe. The men were different in the countries they fought and the methods used to accomplish their goal. General Omar Bradley lead General Montgomery, representing Britain, the French general that represented the free French army, and general, George Patton, that lead the American troops through Italy, and into Germany.
October 10, 2015
I think the purpose for Charles Whiting writing the book “Bradley” was to tell the story of his his life. Not only did Charles write about his life, but he also wrote about the war. He wrote about how Bradley handled it and how all of the people risked their lives for the people in that time period. In “Bradley”, Charles talks about how Bradley grew up and how his life turned out. He mostly talks about how he became a general and how he helped the United States in the war. This story was written from a third person point of view.
The themes of the book were dedication,bravery and to never give up. Bradley was dedicated to the U.S Army. He helped them come up with battle plans and how to carry out those battle plans. Bradley was brave join the U.S Army and to risk his life for America. He never did give up. Charles said, he was always trying to fix something in his plans and keeping everything under control.
The style of the book is narration. Its narration because Charles tells the feelings, actions through the life of Bradley and gives a lot of detail throughout the book. Charles Whiting tells a lot of information and facts about the war and that Bradley was a very good general. I learned a lot about Bradley in this book. It was packed full of information and dozens of pictures. I liked how Charles added pictures to help make the book more enjoyable and more interesting.
Overall, Bradley was a good book to read about the war. I would highly recommend it to all readers and definitely to the readers who enjoy a good book about war. If i had to rate it on a scale of one to five, i would say it was about a 4.1. This was the first type of book like this I have ever read and I really liked how the book turned out.
The themes of the book were dedication,bravery and to never give up. Bradley was dedicated to the U.S Army. He helped them come up with battle plans and how to carry out those battle plans. Bradley was brave join the U.S Army and to risk his life for America. He never did give up. Charles said, he was always trying to fix something in his plans and keeping everything under control.
The style of the book is narration. Its narration because Charles tells the feelings, actions through the life of Bradley and gives a lot of detail throughout the book. Charles Whiting tells a lot of information and facts about the war and that Bradley was a very good general. I learned a lot about Bradley in this book. It was packed full of information and dozens of pictures. I liked how Charles added pictures to help make the book more enjoyable and more interesting.
Overall, Bradley was a good book to read about the war. I would highly recommend it to all readers and definitely to the readers who enjoy a good book about war. If i had to rate it on a scale of one to five, i would say it was about a 4.1. This was the first type of book like this I have ever read and I really liked how the book turned out.
May 22, 2023
🖊 My review: An excellent history book.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
📕 Media form: Read from my private library.
✿●▬●✿●✿●▬●✿
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
📕 Media form: Read from my private library.
✿●▬●✿●✿●▬●✿
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews