World War II - Book Reviews

Terrible Terry Allen - Gerald Astor
Awful Biography of one the US Army's best Divisional Commanders.  Allen commanded the  "Big Red One" in North Africa and Sicily. He was relieved of command by Bradley in August 1943, and sent back to the USA.  Later, he commanded the 104th Division in Northwest Europe. The whole book reads like a first draft, and shows no evidence of original research. Superficial and without footnotes. Example of how bad the book is:  Astor quotes a guy, who knew a guy, who knew Allen who states Allen "later in life" attributed his August 1943 relief to "anti-Catholic" bias. The rest of the "Relief" story is based on secondary sources. This great American soldier deserves a better biography.  Rating *

A General's Life: Autobiography of Omar Bradley - Clay Blair
Published after Bradley had died, this is a jazzed-up "update" of  Bradley's 1951 Autobiography "A Soldier's Story".  How much of it is Bradley and how is Clay Blair is unknown. In any case, it says nothing new at great length.  Also, Bradley was personally dull, so that drags the book down.  Too bad, because Bradley was one of the most important Generals in WW II, commanding 43 Divisions at one point.  Unfortunately, no one seems interested in writing a critical analysis of him. Disappointing.  Rating **

Calculated Risk -  Mark Clark
This one surprised me. Published in 1950, this is a dense, informative, 450 page autobiography which focuses on the Italian Campaign. As you'd expect, Clark defends his controversial Generalship, and gives us HIS side of the story. He admits to the occasional mistake, but anyone looking for apologies over the Rapido River or Anzio disasters will be disappointed.  He also records his contempt for General Devers and his disagreements with Alexander.  However, in the name of post-war Allied unanimity,  his more tart opinions - recorded in his Diary - about other British Generals and 8th Army are excluded from the book.  Superior to most right-after-the-war biographies.  Rating ***

Combat Commander - Earnie Harmon
 Harmon was commander of 1st Armored Division at Anzio and Tunisia, and later served as Division and Corps Commander in the ETO, including the battle of Bulge. Because it was published in 1970, Harmon is much more honest and critical of other Generals.  He's especially down on Fredendall and Hodges. His favorite General? William Simpson. Harmon also explains why - despite his battlefield successes - it took him so long to become a Corps commander. It seems he recommended someone George Marshall didn't like for promotion, and got on Marshall's "don't promote" list.  A  good WW II autobiography Rating ***

Command Decisions - Lucian Truscott 
An excellent post-war autobiography by one the best American Generals in World War 2. Fighting in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, Truscott rose from Divisional commander to 5th Army Commander. Aggressive and dynamic.  it seems everyone: Alexander, Churchill, Patton, Bradley, Ike, and Clark, liked him. Well-written, the book is jammed packed with details and goes over every battle Truscott was involved in.  The only minus? Like most post-war books, Truscott refuses to criticize other Generals (especially Clark).  The only exception is Patton.  But than Patton had been dead for over 8 years when Truscott published the book.  Rating ***