Description: Winner of the 2023 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Biography
Finalist for the 2023 Gilder Lehrman Military History Prize This second of three volumes of Patton's War picks up where the first one left off, examining General George S. Patton's leadership of the U.S. Third Army. The book follows Patton's contributions to both the Normandy and Brittany campaigns--the closing of the Falaise Pocket in Normandy, and racing to the port cities in Brittany. It ends with Patton and his corps rescuing the besieged town of Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge. As he did in the preceding volume, Hymel relies not only on Patton's diaries and letters, but countless veteran interviews, surveys, and memoirs. He also provides a unique insight missed by previous Patton scholars. Instead of using Patton's transcribed diaries, which were heavily edited and embellished, he consults Patton's original, hand-written diaries to uncover previously unknown information about the general. This second volume of Hymel's groundbreaking work shows Patton at the height of his generalship, successfully leading his army without the mistakes and caustic behavior that almost got him sent home earlier--even if we also see a Patton still guided at times by racism and antisemitism.Review Quotes:
"Hymel has demonstrated once again that he is one of Patton's most distinguished biographers, on par with Martin Blumenson in The Patton Papers and Carlo D'Este in Patton: A Genius for War. Readers will anxiously await the concluding volume of Patton's War to accurately assess Hymel's opinion that 'World War II was truly his war'."--Army Magazine
"A massive and impressively informative military biography . . . This seminal volume is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library World War II Histories & Biographies collections and supplemental WWII curriculum studies lists."--Midwest Book Review "This is turning out to be probably my favorite book on Gen. Patton in WWII. As you begin Vol II you are going to see that the author, Kevin Hymel, has drifted from previous authors on Patton. Kevin has followed what I call Gen. Irzyk's guidance on writing, do your own research. And this has led him down paths that previous authors chose not to go."--Patton Newsletter "Whether you are a Patton scholar or a student of leadership studies, this book is a definite read." --Journal of America's Military Past "Hymel's second installment of Patton's War is an extensive, fresh, must-read for any student of George S. Patton, Jr. and, in particular, the United States' participation in World War II in Europe."--Army History