Eisenhower at War 1943-1945

Customer Reviews:

A Thorough Study of Ike At War.......2005-11-17

"Eisenhower at War 1943-1945" is a long, detailed and thorough study of Dwight Eisenhower's career in the Mediterranean and Europe during World War II.

I like books which confront the reader with ways of viewing things not previously thought of. This book meets that test. I had always thought of Eisenhower as a commander directing armies of conquest. This book shows him, as he is often depicted, as a Chairman of the Board, a negotiator who worked to achieve a concensus among often squabbling rivals. Caught between his subordinates and politicians who were not his direct superiors, Ike often had to walk the tightrope over a chasm of dismissal and defeat. The amateur often thinks of strategy, but this book clearly shows Ike as the professional, rationing available supplies among the dream list of targets. I find that the treatment of the coordination of moves of the Western Allied with those of the Russians introduces a whole new perspective on war planning. The sections on the closing maneuvers of the war explain in great detail the competing interests and viewpoints as the wary allies jockeyed for postwar position and tested each other's resolve.

Although over eight hundred pages, David Eisenhower avoids becoming so bogged down in details as to lose the reader's interest. Although writing about his grandfather, this book is not a "homer." While generally favorable, the doubts of some, such as Gen. Marshall, do find their way into the narrative.

"Eisenhower At War" is a must for any student of Gen. Eisenhower or World War II.

Intricately detailed..............2002-06-18

With 825 pages devoted to a period of three years, David Eisenhower, the grandson of DDE, has ample space to provide an intricate look at his grandfather at war. This book is primarily focused on the preparation and execution of Normandy through to the formal capitulation of Germany.

The author, presenting the rivalries between allied generals, the political machinations of Roosevelt, Churchill and the Combined Chiefs of Staff, and the seemingly unfathomable Stalin, shows the extreme patience, diplomacy, and fortitude required of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expedition Forces, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, to win the war in Europe.

Eisenhower: At War, 1943-1945, expertly dissects the relationships between allied parties while describing the utter destruction of Germany. It is thorough and frequently thrilling. Patton, Bradley, and Montgomery receive appropriate attention as does Normandy and the Ardennes offensive most commonly referred to as the Battle of the Bulge. I recommend the book highly and rate it an enthusiastic 4 stars.

Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, President and..........2000-09-20

grandpa. I've been meaning to read At War for some time specifically to to get David Eisenhower's perpective. It's a perpective most historians would kill for. As a kid David had the run of the White House. The familiarity he gained from comtemporaries of his grandfather-generals, aides, heads of state, friends & even other historians was invaluable. His admits this. The book look daunting at first glance, but is quite readable & I was able to stay with it for hours at a time. ha-mevaker is correct. This is a political rather than a military view of the war in Europe. Military matters are of course the backdrop for the political intrigues Ike is subjected to. The personal stories are appreciated & humanize the whole horrible war: The young private from Abeliene simply walking up to Eisenhower"s H.Q. & demanding of the guard to see Ike. He got his audience with the general as well as a signed note as proof to his buddies. The book is peppered with little stories like that. The Eisenhower-Montgomery feud is covered extensively. Surprisingly, David is more even handed & perhaps more understanding of Monty's motives than other American historians have been. By D-Day Britain was finished. She was bankrupted, & would never regain her former glory. Montgomery knew this well. The men lost could not be replaced. Yet he wanted one last moment in the sun for Great Britain, that of a spearhead into Germany & the capture of Berlin by the English (& himself). In this plan he was over-ruled by Eisenhower, his superior, a general with no battlefield experience. He was a great patriot & it galled him that by this point the British Empire was the junior partner in the U.S./British alliance. Churchill was proponent a defeating Germany thru Italy & did not support the Normandy invasion. He experienced the carnage of World War I trench warfare feared a repeat if a frontal assault was attempted. Eisenhower greatest strength was he wasn't fighting the last war as many of the people around him were. He was fighting the war he had before him & he did it quite well.

This is a different look at the events of WW II.......2000-06-26

This is the first part of what David Eisenhower's intended political biography of his grandfather. The main thrust of the book is how Eisenhower's decisions in WW II were made, and the tensions that existed in the USA/British alliance during the war. The Anvil/Dragoon controversy is given full length because it was one of the most contended points of the allaince. The fighting of the war is distinctly in the background. It isn't clear to me how much personal analysis David Eisenhower put into the fighting aspect of the book. In a number of places it seems that he relys on the historians. Because of this, I think that it is important to keep in mind that this probably isn't an important book in terms of military history, even though it is very important in terms of understanding the political aspects of the war. Almost all the other books on WW II ignore the political aspects.

Early Cold War Overflights 1950-1956: Symposium Proceedings: Vol. I: Memories & Vol. II: Appendixes

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Early Cold War Overflights 1950-1956: Symposium Proceedings: Vol. I: Memories & Vol. II: Appendixes

Manufacturer: Diane Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0756734908

Product Description

Proceedings of a symposium on the U.S. & British overflight effort conducted between 1950 & the end of 1956. Organized by public historians from the Intelligence Community & DoD, its purpose was to shed light on an important, often misrepresented & little known aspect of the Cold War, & to recognize the veterans of these operations & collect their memoirs for the historic record. The memoirs in Vol. I add significantly to the history of peacetime strategic reconnaissance & dispel popular presumptions of an Air Force or military conspiracy. Appendixes in Vol. II include: biographies of contributors; overflight documents; aircraft characteristics; historical background of overflights in Asia; selected readings; & Eisenhower's legacy.

Shadows, Skulls, Spooks: Shadows Do No Harm, Shadow Governments Kill

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Real food for thought
Shadows Skulls Spooks -- two books

Shadows, Skulls, Spooks: Shadows Do No Harm, Shadow Governments Kill
Donald Jay Denton
Manufacturer: BookSurge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Shadows II, Skulls II & Spooks II

ASIN: 1419637231
Release Date: 2006-06-28

Book Description

In Nineteen fifty-five a Shadow Government was established by Executive Orders, and operated covertly with success for twenty years during the very warm Cold War. Then under pressure from Congress in Nineteen Seventy-five, new Executive Orders were issued to make the Shadow Government, with its Black Chamber operations, vanish. This secret operation remained nonexistent history until exposed in Two thousand and three. This is a story about sixteen naïve young people. Upon graduating from high school on one Memorial Day, they enlisted and became highly trained and qualified Master Assassins by the following Memorial Day. They were recruited to be deadly tools of the trade for a “One Nation under God” Shadow Government. The young people were displacement specialists for dispatching humanities hemorrhoids from the “nasty now and now” into the “sweet bye and bye.” They helped balance out the political “World Order” of things, and the valuable economic benefits of the U. S. of A. around the world.

Customer Reviews:

Real food for thought.......2007-06-05

Beyond the first few chapters this was an exciting and spellbinding book that I couldn't put down. There are lots of intriquing twists & turns about events that happened in my lifetime...very interesting....is this fact or fiction or some of both?

Shadows Skulls Spooks -- two books.......2007-05-23

Shadows, Skulls, and Spooks is a two-book fascinating tale of 16 talented young men recruited into a secret Shadow Government operation -- the Pooka Brigade -- trained to be efficient killers and then assigned to kill to protect our Country's regional, political, and economic interests. Half of the first Brigade survived and the best of them went on to assemble another Pooka Brigade (covered in Book II).

Established and, 20 years later, terminated by Executive Orders, their Black Chamber units functioned in extreme secrecy. You will feel the tension and intrigue as they carry out their unbelievable assignments.

Sigurd D. Medhus

The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: The Presidency: Keeping the Peace (The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower)

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The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower: The Presidency: Keeping the Peace (The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower)
Dwight David Eisenhower
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0801866995

Book Description

Completing a monumental project that began with publication of The War Years in 1970, this final set of volumes of The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower contains 1,783 documents drawn from Eisenhower's second term as president from 20 January 1957 to 20 January 1961. In these years Eisenhower worked hard to hold the focus of American national politics on the two major objectives he had set for his presidency in 1952: to sustain the policy of containment without precipitating a war with the Soviet Union and to reduce the role of the federal government in U.S. domestic affairs. In both cases, events at home and abroad intruded -- diverting attention to immediate problems, endangering the peace, and forcing the White House to devote most of its leadership to the crises of the day.

As president during this tense period, Eisenhower maintained an extensive and revealing correspondence with prominent individuals as well as with personal friends. These letters, together with the occasional entries made in his diary, shed considerable light upon the major national concerns of the 1950s. The volumes also include private and secret correspondence previously unavailable to scholars. Some of these items have been only recently declassified, and many appear here in print for the first time. Taken as a whole, the Eisenhower papers from 1957-61 provide firm documentary evidence of the manner in which Eisenhower dealt with the complex internal and external problems faced by all of our modern political leaders.

Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace

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Great Reading Even For A Neophyte
Entertaining but nothing new.
A fair and unbiased interpretation of historical facts and personal diaries and notes.
Shows how the relationship -worked-
Errors shake the reader's confidence

Partners in Command: George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower in War and Peace
Mark Perry
Manufacturer: Penguin Press HC, The
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1594201056
Release Date: 2007-05-10

Book Description

The depth and significance of the relationship between George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower has eluded historians for years. In Partners in Command, acclaimed historian and journalist Mark Perry gets to the heart of arguably the most fateful partnership in American military history, a union of two very different men bound by an epic common purpose. He follows Marshall and Eisenhower's collaboration from the major battles in North Africa and Italy to the planning and execution of the D-Day invasion, the crisis of the Battle of the Bulge, and the postwar implementation of the Marshall Plan, and the establishment of Eisenhower's leadership of NATO. erry shows that Marshall and Eisenhower were remarkably close colleagues who brilliantly combined strengths and offset each other's weaknesses in their strategic planning, on the battlefields, and in their mutual struggle to overcome the bungling, political sniping, and careerism of both British and American commanders that infected nearly every battle and campaign. Finally, Marshall and Eisenhower collaborated in crafting the foreign policy and military infrastructure that became the foundation for winning the Cold War.

From their first meeting after Pearl Harbor in 1941, Marshall and Eisenhower recognized in each other an invaluable military partner-by February 1942, Marshall, who was Army chief of staff, had promoted Eisenhower to head the War Plans Division, where his first job was to write the initial plan to win the war against Japan. Within a few months, Marshall selected Eisenhower as commander of all U.S. forces in the European theater. By early 1944, however, a subtle but major shift had occurred: Marshall the teacher had become Eisenhower's student, Eisenhower having developed the superior grasp of command challenges.

Partners in Command is an extraordinary portrait of an often ignored alliance between two iconic military figures and the ways in which their unusual collaboration would ultimately shape fifty years of successful American foreign policy.

Customer Reviews:

Great Reading Even For A Neophyte.......2007-10-12

Author Mark Perry has provided us with a gem of a book on World War II while concentrating on the relationship between mentor George Marshall and student Dwight Eisenhower. It was not what you would consider a close friendship, but one of guidance in which the student (Eisenhower) eventually surpassed the mentor (Marshall). Throughout his military life Eisenhower sought the guidance of George Marshall. Eisenhower had his hands full after being named head of the European command in World War II, and his mentor, Marshall, was always available to assist even though Marshall, himself, would have loved to have the command. Some felt Marshall would have too much power as part of the combined Chiefs of Staff in addition to head of the European command. Marshall, however, wanted President Roosevelt to make the appointment without regard to Marshall's opinion. When Ike was concerned about the performance of an officer who was an old friend, Marshall told him that any officer who is retained under you means that you are satisfied with his performance. If you are not you must reassign him or send him home. A quality Marshall admired in subordinates was to stand up to authority and express your own opinions. In other words, don't be afraid to disagree with me. Juggling the egos of men such as Winston Churchill, Bernard Montgomery, Alan Brooke, George Patton, Omar Bradley, Mark Clark, and others who each had their own idea of what should be done where and when was a job requiring a great deal of self discipline. Fox Conner, one of America's greatest military thinkers is all but forgotten now, but he was influential in shaping Marshall's and Eisenhower's approach to warfare. One of his axioms was "never fight unless you have to, never fight alone, and never fight for long." They remained convinced that democracies would win only short wars, not protracted conflicts. I found a wealth of information in this book, and the 400 plus pages will keep you riveted from beginning to end. There are certainly lessons to be learned for those who would hope to lead our country today. Whether they would be open to learning from past leaders is another matter.

Entertaining but nothing new........2007-09-19

Partners in Command fits into the somewhat recent trend in history books of focusing in on an historical specific - a battle, a speech, a pivotal month or as in this case, the relationship between two men, George Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower, during a pivotal time in history - and filling in a narrative - with anecdotes, flashbacks, etc - around it. (I don't view this as an inherently bad thing - different readers have different interests). First the good news, in this reader's humble opinion any continued investigation or chronicle of the challenges these two men faced either together or separately and their successes, (and failures), in meeting them is valuable. For whatever reason George Marshall is not only underappreciated today, he seems to have been forgotten. And in hindsight it's very difficult to imagine anyone else on either side of the Atlantic assuming the role Eisenhower did as capably as he did. (This is something FDR intuitively understood.) This book does a very good job in detailing the difficulties faced and the decisions made by these two generals during WWII, often while they were thousands of miles apart with few face to face meetings and under extreme pressure to win the war in Europe.

Which brings me to the down side - the author may have bit more than he could chew in book of this type, (overview), and it might have been a better idea to conclude with the success of D-Day. (Although selling a publisher at this time on "yet another" D-Day book is probably a difficult task.) Many important topics - build-up of the pre-WWII US military into a fighting force, NATO, the Cold War, the Marshall Plan & post WWII Europe - and individuals - Churchill, FDR, Truman among others - are given, at best, cursory treatment. (The post WWII "peace" part of this book is minimal.) This is understandable in keeping the book to a "readable" length but comes up short of its billing (War & Peace). There are also some unforgivable errors in this book with two whoppers contained within the first 20 pages - the dates of the Battle of Stalingrad and Germany's declaration of war on the US. Hard to comprehend how these slipped through any editing process.

If you are looking for a starting point in understanding these two men and the US High Command/military management of the European theater in WWII, you've found it. This book is entertaining and very readable. If you are familiar with this period of history and the players, there is really nothing new here.

A fair and unbiased interpretation of historical facts and personal diaries and notes........2007-08-23

Positive, revealing and sympathetic to the trials of working with a coalition within a politically charged time. Less negative than the recent "15 Stars". Takes a far less biased interpretation of Eisenhower's and Marshall's personal papers. "15 Stars" is too much biased in favor of the British command staff and war cabinet. A story of a professional relationship between Marshall's astute political savvy and blunt defense of the American military, and Eisenhower's balancing act between the leaders of the allied command and his own generals who were very different in their view of conducting a war. Marshall became a good cabinet member for Truman and Eisenhower was elected president with the trust of the American people.

Shows how the relationship -worked-.......2007-08-23

This book shows the strength of the Marshall/Eisenhower relationship, and in particular how that relationship contributed to success in WWII ETO. It also highlights their shared values. (Both individuals owed a lot to Fox Conner, one of the must under-appreciated people in US Military History.)

A previous reviewer recommended "15 Stars" 15 Stars: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Marshall: Three Generals Who Saved the American Century over this book. I completely disagree. I disliked "15 Stars" is mostly anecdotes/gossip, that fails to show the impact of the relationships. "Partners in Command" succeeds for that very reason.

One thing to keep in mind as you read either "Partners in Command" or "15 Stars" is to compare the Marshall/Ike relationship (including Marshall's interactions with Henry Stimpson and FDR) to our two most recent examples of senior leadership in the Gulf wars (Desert Storm and our current efforts...)

Strongly recommended, one of the best books I've read in a long time (and I have several shelves of stuff on Ike and Marshall.)

dave

Errors shake the reader's confidence.......2007-07-30

On page 14 of this ambitious dual biography, Mark Perry writes ". . . the Red Army was fighting for its life amid the ruins of Stalingrad." Unfortunately the passage is referring to mid-December 1941. The Battle of Stalingrad started on August 21, 1942, some nine months later. This kind of error is lamentable. It indicates sloppy or worse research by the author and poor fact-checking by the editor(s). It's a red-flag for the reader, of course: how many other errors are lurking in the remaining 385 pages or so?

Happily not many. But the book is a bit of a slog and slow reading.

Most of the details will be familiar to any student of WWII. Some of Perry's comments are grating in a way that I can't quite put a name to, such as "Eisenhower was pleased and extolled Patton's successes, though he knew that sooner or later, his best tank commander's profane personality would lead to problems." There is no footnorte, no source for this and it strikes me as gratuitous.

I'm not sure either that Perry really adds anything to our knowledge of the relationship between Eisenhower and Marshall. All the way through, I had a feeling of "been there, done that".

On the whole, not a bad book, but not one that I found compellingly interesting. A better choice, I think, is 15 Stars: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Marshall: Three Generals Who Saved the American Century which is even more expansive in its subject matter, covering Eisenhower, Marshall and MacArthur. I must add a caveat: I have been a student of WWII for decades. The newcomer to the study of this conflict may indeed find much more of value in this volume than I.

Jerry

D-Day: The Greatest Invasion - A People's History

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Informative and moving tribute to the "Greatest Generation"
A chronicle of men who gave everything they had
A fine tribute!
D-Day: The Greatest Invasion - A People's History
Very Informative of The Politics

D-Day: The Greatest Invasion - A People's History
Dan van der Vat , and John S. D. Eisenhower
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1582343144

Book Description

It was the greatest invasion of all time. Early on the morning of June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy-not only streaming from the sea but also sweeping in from the air-and launched a massive assault on Nazi-occupied France. In sixteen unforgettable hours, these heroic men succeeded in breaching the Third Reich's impregnable defenses, leading the way to the liberation of Europe.

As the sixtieth anniversary approaches, those who remember that epic invasion are rapidly dwindling in number. Now, their gripping eyewitness accounts-most of them never before published-are woven into an authoritative new look at that unforgettable "longest day" by distinguished military historian Dan van der Vat. This book captures and preserves for a new generation all the human drama and heroism that marked D-Day. Richly illustrated with hundreds of historical photographs-many from private photo albums-as well as personal artifacts, dramatic paintings by the many war artists on the scene, and modern color photographs, this is the definitive history of one of the most important dates of the twentieth century.

Customer Reviews:

Informative and moving tribute to the "Greatest Generation".......2005-11-15

In May 1945, Van der Vat's hometown of Alkmaar in North Holland was finally liberated by allied troops. With "The Greatest Invasion", the author expresses his undying gratitude to the sacrifices of these men, attempting to return the favor, as best as he can, for the salvation from Hitler's jackboot. In particular, Van der Vat doesn't gloss over the role of Canadian troops at Juno Beach -- the ones who specifically went on to liberate his birthplace.

The result is a moving tribute that captures the tremendous undertaking of D-Day while eschewing overly somber tones. The text is richly informative as are the fine diagrams which accompany it. Van der Vat presents stirring letters and anecdotes from a host of representative participants as well as high-level tactical descriptions of the invasion.

Of course, the photos are not only stunning, but the modern ones are originals intended for the book. These are not stock photographs. They include before-and-after shots of locations, perspective shots from inside German pillboxes, or panoramas from the cliffs. Snapshots of memorabilia, insignia, and documents are also thoughtfully provided. Finally, the graphic design and layout of the book are superb.

A very fine effort sure to reward any reader interested in history.

A chronicle of men who gave everything they had.......2004-07-04

The logistics of the allied invasion of Western Europe are incredible, even in retrospect. It involved hundreds of ships and planes, thousands of men and devices to kill men everywhere. The wonder is not that there was confusion, but that it went as well as it did. It is a tribute to the planners that it did succeed, for if it had not, it is nearly certain that Soviet Armies would have marched to the Rhine and perhaps even to the Normandy coast. The consequences of the Soviet armies dominating all of Europe after the war are enormous and communism could have emerged victorious in the cold war.
This book is a chronicle of the men who created the victory against extreme opposition. While some of the German units were not the highest caliber, all still put up a ferocious fight, and it was only the courage of the allied soldiers and their willing to shed their blood that made it happen. A combination of photos, pictures and text describe the invasion from the initial planning to the destruction of the German armies in the Falaise pocket. In many cases, before and after photos are paired to show how the region looked then and now.
Two days truly changed the course of World War II. The first is the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into the war and which guaranteed that the allies would not be defeated. The second is D-Day, which meant that Soviet influence would end somewhere in the middle of Europe rather than at the western border. This is a story of one of the greatest days in American history, where the course of world history for five decades was decided. We all owe so much to the men who hit those beaches and this book is a history lesson that should never, ever be forgotten.

A fine tribute!.......2004-02-26

I was surprised to read Jon Gawne's negative review of Dan van der Vat's D-Day book - especially in light of the dozens of moving letters we've received from D-Day veterans and associations praising Mr. van der Vat's even-handed and complete re-telling of this epic story:

"On behalf of all of us, and especially those who gave their lives in Normandy, it is with great appreciation that we recognize and thank you for your excellent documentation of D-Day." - Bud Rice, veteran, 316th Troop Carrier Group

"The author and your staff have produced a fine tribute to those who were involved in this historic day." - National D-Day Memorial Foundation

"It is the finest accounting I have ever read of what took place sixty years ago." - Harvey A. Jacobs, veteran, U.S. 9th Air Force

"I have read it through and was pleased with the accuracy of the contents." - Donald Jakeway, veteran, 82nd Airborne Division

"Well written and superbly illustrated and produced. The coverage of Pegasus Bridge has been done well, with information compiled lucidly and accurately." - David Booth, Editor, Journal of the Glider Pilot Regimental Association

"Dan van der Vat has compiled a truly memorable volume to mark the upcoming 60th anniversary of D-Day. I hope to carry a volume with me when I visit Normandy in June." - Howard Clarkson, veteran crewmember, LCI-537

I'm sure Amazon customers will be heartened to know that D-DAY: THE GREATEST INVASION - A PEOPLE'S HISTORY is a far richer book than Jon Gawne imagines. Just ask the vets who were there...

D-Day: The Greatest Invasion - A People's History.......2004-01-15

American soldiers and sailors were threatened with court-marshal for taking diaries or cameras ashore on Normandy D-Day. Most of Robert Capa's June 6, 1944 photos shot at 8:30 A.M. on the Easy Red/Fox Green sectors of Omaha Beach were accidentally destroyed during developing. Fortunately, D-Day combat artist Dwight Shepler, USNR, captured many great scenes of the U.S. Naval Beach Battalions and LCI sailors in France. Author Dan van der Vat's D-Day: The Greatest Invasion - A People's History is a well written overview of Operation Overlord and ingeniously combines Shepler's invasion art, never-before-published photos and most important, first person accounts of American, British, Canadian, Free French and Polish Allied participants. I never knew my father, a beach battalion medical officer, but I do know many D-Day veterans. The Greatest Invasion is quite a tribute to "those who were there," and will surely become a bestseller at the National D-Day Memorial Foundation in Bedford, VA and the "new" National WWII Museum in New Orleans, LA.

Very Informative of The Politics.......2004-01-15

While it may not be the most detailed book on D-Day, it was very informative about the politics side of the invasion on both sides of the battle. It is definately more informative about the Canadian troops that helped in the invasion. This is stated at the beginning of the book also. Overall though, it is one of the best books on D-Day I have read.

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A light in a dark point of United States history
Understanding US and Mexican Relations Today
a book about the wonderful US Army
Al fin algo de verdad....
Good Overview

So Far from God
John S.D. Eisenhower
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0385412142
Release Date: 1990-03-01

Book Description

Eminent military historian John S.D. Eisenhower has written a highly readable and expert account of a war which--though frequently overlooked--tumed out to be the training ground for the American Civil War.

Customer Reviews:

A light in a dark point of United States history.......2006-07-11

I think that this is a good book about the yankee-mexican war. It shows the political and military problems in both sides, USA and Mexican, and also writes about personal histories, always interesting. It shows clearly also evident, that it's bad business to be neighbour of United States if your are not strong. The different ways of conduct of United States with England ( in Canada and Oregon problem) and with Mexico shows it clearly. Some things are difficult to believe , by example , that in a fight hand to hand only a yankee died and almost three hundred mexican did. but in general, I think that it's a good book for a first sight of that conquest war.
I remember a film of John Wayne which when he travels to mexican lands and a mexican in a horse come to give him wellcome, John Wayne shoot him and kill. That's the way the yankees ( not americans, because all habitants of America are americans, mexicans too ) did with every country that they can do it, Mexico, Spain ( Puerto Rico, Cuba , Filipinas, etc ), Colombia with Panama Channel, etc.
And it's very curious how this war is hide of United States films . If one see westerns films and about California, it seems a empty land and nobody knows that it was stealed to mexicans. Fortunately the time is changing and every year more and more mexican people live in that States and, who knows ? When United Stated would be not so strong, another countries made him like he did with others.
Anyway a good book that respect both fighters, only I miss a complete map with all the land stealed to Mexico ( almost a third of the country ) that reach Canada.

Understanding US and Mexican Relations Today.......2006-06-07

This book is a must for anyone trying to understand US and Mexican relations today. It is very well reserched yet readable. This period in US history was not one of our finer moments. We are doomed to regret and pay for the actions of our imperialism, in the name of Manifest Destiny, for generations to come.This book helps us understand why we still have a price to pay in 2006.

a book about the wonderful US Army.......2006-02-09

I had read other reviews about how this book is such a concise and accurate portrait of the US-Mexican American War but I thought it lopsided. He does describe in great detail the movements, strategies and people surrounding the U.S. Army but beyond this there is not much information. There is not much account of the Mexican side and for the most part the Mexican Army comes across as incompetent. Mexican victories in the war are barely examined. US Army conduct seems to be very civil when in fact there was much contempt for the Mexicans by some and many atrocities and civilian casualties. The US soldiers seem to develop a respect for the Mexicans and their cutlture if one judges from this book, enjoying the many "fandangos" along the way to the next battle. Motivations for the war are only shallowly examined. There is no mention of the valuable ports to be won in California, which Polk had set his eyes on. There is one sentence that refers casually to the San Patricio battalion of deserters who fought for the Mexican Army but there is no discussion as to why they deserted or a look at Army moral. He discusses occasionally lack of discipline in the troops but never the causes, except perhaps weariness. Apaches are described as "killing" and "raiding" but Eisenhower seems to show a great deal of compassion on the next page when a US officer must "subdue" the Apaches and manages to have them "brought to the point where they are willing to sign a peace treaty" as if the Apaches only reservation to peace were their beligerence (Andrew Jackson broke between 80-90 treaties with the Native Americans during his presidency.) In this same passage Eisenhower describes how the US soldiers could only "shudder to think" what the fate of captured women might have been, but upon bringing the Apaches out of the mountains he never tells what their actual fate was. We are left shuddering in our imaginations. And the list goes on. The problem is not so much what Eisenhower tells but what he doesn't tell. He gives a famous quote of Ulysses Grant describing the war as " the most unjust war ever waged by a stronger nation against a weaker" but we never see the war Grant saw. The worst fatalities encountered in this book are the ones suffered by soldiers during battle. There is no record of the inhumanity that this war brought out in both countries. In the end it is simply a matter of a strong country pitted against an unfortunate weaker country, and the U.S. of course is fortunate enough to be the stronger. Injustice is not in this picture and if it is it is glossed over. If half the detail exercised in describing the geography of battle was given to the examination of politics, or to Mexico's understanding of the war and its battles then this would be a wonderful book. If you are interested in precisely where certain battalions and infantries of the US Army where and when then this is a super book. The physical description is detailed (although not particularly interesting) but the deeper issues that describe the real nature and character of war are virtually untouched and only lightly treated.

Al fin algo de verdad...........2005-10-28

Tenia que ser alquien como este reconocido historiador, una persona bien nacida, descendiente nada menos que del legendario Ike, quien les empieza a revelar a los norteamericanos la penosa historia de como se robaron, no encuentro otra palabra peor, la mitad del territorio que en ese entonces era propiedad de la republica mexicana, la cual siendo presa de desordenes internos, atizados por su perfido vecino del norte a traves del alevoso Joel. R. Poinsett, el que hasta el nombre de la flor de nochebuena se robo, fue facil presa del ave de presa que como vecino tenia al norte, yo quiero a los actuales ciudadanos de los estados unidos de norteamerica, me duele en el alma cuando los hieren a los matan,ya sea en Irak o en otro lado, me encantan los Bush, padre e hijo, Reagan, Kennedy y por supuesto, I like Ike, pero aquello que nos hicieron de 1821 a 1847 y en Veracruz con el lunatico de Woodrow Wilson, no tiene perdon de Dios.

Good Overview.......2005-02-24

This title compares well to the handful of other War History Books I've read.

Eisenhower does a good job of reviewing each significant battle in the right amount of detail, and the book provides decent maps and terrain descriptions (obvious musts). He also does a good job of describing the involvement of the various Generals (from both sides), and lower-ranked officers who would later play signicant roles in the American Civil War that would follow a bit more than a decade from the end of this confict.

Well done is the description of the psyche of the Mexican soldiers and populace, and the role it played in the course of the war.

While there are some descriptions of the lives of the American enlisted men (who obviously far outnumber the officers), Eisenhower doesn't really make as much as an effort as could have been made in this area... I also felt he was a bit pompous when he would question why men would follow certain leaders (like John Fremont, for example).

One area of the Mexican War, that any War History buff should not miss is the sub-story of the San Patricio (or St. Patrick's) Regiment of Irish "deserters" from the American side - which I first learned by reading this book... Knowing this story (and being half-Irish myself), I sometimes will get too many beers under my belt in a TJ bar, and say in spanish that the Irish fought harder for Mexico than the Mexicans did (they were actually forced to), and it always draws crys of "No es Cierto!" (It isn't True!)... and I say SI, ES CIERTO!

Eisenhower on Leadership: Ike's Enduring Lessons in Total Victory Management

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Great for CEOs of CEOs and those who want to improve their written communication, but so so for the rest.

Eisenhower on Leadership: Ike's Enduring Lessons in Total Victory Management
Alan Axelrod
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0787982385

Book Description

Based on the findings in recently released archive papers and letters, as well as extensive library and historical resources, Alan Axelrod offers a compelling profile of the remarkable leadership discipline of a general often called a "military CEO." In fascinating detail, Axelrod reveals that Ike was more than a great military leader; he was also a great executive who couldâand didâwrite a reassuring letter to the mother of a solider one moment and make decisions impacting millions of lives the next.

Follow Ike's path as Supreme Commander from the invasion of North Africa to victory in Europe and learn the lessons of great leadership along the way, including:

The nature of leadership
Managing detail without sacrificing the “big picture”
Ensuring follow-through to execution
Building a team
Converting conflict into common cause
Getting the facts and making plans
Mentoring, motivating, and inspiring

Customer Reviews:

Great for CEOs of CEOs and those who want to improve their written communication, but so so for the rest. .......2007-07-20

I rated "Patton on Leadership" by the same author a four star with the title "Great on Patton "and" Leadership." I had expected this to be of the same good quality. Sorry that I had been a little bit disappointed. Dont know whether it's the difference of the two characters that Eisenhower is one of decision making and Patton is one of action taking, or the author had deliberately based his new book primiarily on the correspondence written by Eisenhower, or simply the author had overdone it (there are 232 lessons), I found this not interesting and over stretched. I still can remember some good leadership stories I read from "Patton on Leadership." All I can recall from this is that Eisenhower possessed very strong political skills who strived to strike the balance right and use correct tone and words all the time. Great for CEOs of CEOs and those who want to improve their written communication, but so so for the rest.

Total Cold War: Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home And Abroad

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Ike as Propagandist
Ike: Psychological Cold Warrior

Total Cold War: Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home And Abroad
Kenneth Osgood
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0700614451

Book Description

When President Dwight Eisenhower spoke of waging "total cold war," he was proposing nothing less than a global, all-embracing battle for hearts and minds. His wide-ranging propaganda campaign challenged world communism at every turn and left a lasting mark on the American psyche.

Kenneth Osgood now chronicles the secret psychological warfare programs America developed at the height of the Cold War. These programs-which were often indistinguishable from CIA covert operations-went well beyond campaigns to foment unrest behind the Iron Curtain. The effort was global: U.S. propaganda campaigns targeted virtually every country in the free world.

Total Cold War also shows that Eisenhower waged his propaganda war not just abroad, but also at home. U.S. psychological warfare programs blurred the lines between foreign and domestic propaganda with campaigns that both targeted the American people and enlisted them as active participants in global contest for public opinion.

Osgood focuses on major campaigns such as Atoms for Peace, People-to-People, and cultural exchange programs. Drawing on recently declassified documents that record U.S. psychological operations in some three dozen countries, he tells how U.S. propaganda agencies presented everyday life in America to the world: its citizens living full, happy lives in a classless society where economic bounty was shared by all. Osgood further investigates the ways in which superpower disarmament negotiations were used as propaganda maneuvers in the battle for international public opinion. He also reexamines the early years of the space race, focusing especially on the challenge to American propagandists posed by the Soviet launch of Sputnik.

Perhaps most telling, Osgood takes a new look at President Eisenhower's leader-ship. Believing that psychological warfare was a potent weapon in America's arsenal, Ike appears in these pages not as a disinterested figurehead, as he's often been portrayed, but as an activist president who left a profound mark on national security affairs.

Osgood's distinctive interpretation places Cold War propaganda campaigns in the context of an international arena drastically changed by the communications revolution and the age of mass politics and total war. It provides a new perspective on the conduct of public diplomacy, even as Americans today continue to grapple with the challenges of winning other hearts and minds in another global struggle.

Customer Reviews:

Ike as Propagandist.......2007-02-20

In the early 1980s, with the publication of Fred I. Greenstein's book, "The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as Leader," a reappraisal of Ike's presidency began. This new work by Kenneth Osgood makes a critically important contribution to the brutal historiography of Eisenhower revisionism. It suggests that Eisenhower was much more than a smiling, golf playing figurehead, and instead understood well the stakes and the possibilities of cold war with the Soviet Union. Most important, he waged an aggressive psychological battle for hearts and minds worldwide; one that overall proved quite successful. Based on extensive documentary materials only recently declassified, this work marks a new path in Eisenhower studies. It is a major contribution to the field.

Ike: Psychological Cold Warrior.......2006-03-26

Many of today's baby boomers grew up in the 1950's and recall President Eisenhower as an avuncular man typified by such snappy slogans as "I like Ike." What many of them did not know was that Ike was an active propagandist trying to win the hearts and minds of citizens not only behind the Iron Curtain, but also at home, in friendly nations, and everywhere else on the planet, taking advantage of new and ever more expansive and rapid communications technologies.

Prof. Osgood has written a penetrating history of Ike's propaganda campaigns, documenting how in a war of ideology, communications was often a more potent weapon than guns and bombs. With campaigns lauding not only the American good life, but also the American space and arms races, Eisenhower and his new Cold Warriors fought in an international arena of public opinion which they used to leverage negotiations to their advantage at home and abroad.

That governments and the powerful have always sought to shape public opinion is no surprise, and it should also be no surprise that Eisenhower, believing that the future of the free world was in the balance, fully utilized the tools of communications and propaganda to his own ends. Prof. Osgood's book reminds us that propaganda comes in many form and guises, and even when we try to justify the means of propaganda by the ends of freedom, truly free people must never accept any speech, especially by governments, at face value.

The VICTORS : Eisenhower and His Boys: The Men of World War II

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Great Book! Very annotated/highly recommend/prompt shipping
Not the best, but a good read nonetheless
The Victors
Fighting in the cold
Sort of a best of Stephen Ambrose

The VICTORS : Eisenhower and His Boys: The Men of World War II
Stephen E. Ambrose
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0684856298

Amazon.com

The Victors is like a compilation of Stephen E. Ambrose's greatest hits, drawing heavily from his biography of General Dwight D. Eisenhower and several military histories that recount the events of the Allied push across the European continent in 1944 and 1945 from the frontline trooper's perspective. The narrative is vintage Ambrose, full of engaging yet workmanlike prose that conveys the epic scope of its subject while paying careful attention to the details of the often inglorious lives of the GIs. Eisenhower looms large over this book, but it's the ordinary soldiers and their experiences who give the story real life. Readers who have already dipped into the Ambrose library may find sections of The Victors redundant, but for those who want an adept overview of what Ike and his men accomplished, this is a great place to start. --John J. Miller

Book Description

A TRUE CELEBRATION OF HEROISM AND BRAVERY

From America's preeminent military historian, Stephen E. Ambrose, comes a brilliant telling of World War II in Europe, from D-Day, June 6, 1944, to the end, eleven months later, on May 7, 1945. The author himself drew this authoritative narrative account from his five acclaimed books about that conflict, to yield what has been called "the best single-volume history of the war that most of us will ever read."

Download Description

From America's preeminent military historian, Stephen E. Ambrose, comes a brilliant telling of the war in Europe, from D-Day, June 6, 1944, to the end, eleven months later, on May 7, 1945. This authoritative narrative account is drawn by the author himself from his five acclaimed books about that conflict, most particularly from the definitive and comprehensive "D-Day" and "Citizen Soldiers", about which the great Civil War historian James McPherson wrote, "If there is a better book about the experience of GIs who fought in Europe during World War II, I have not read it. "Citizen Soldiers" captures the fear and exhilaration of combat, the hunger and cold and filth of the foxholes, the small intense world of the individual rifleman as well as the big picture of the European theater in a manner that grips the reader and will not let him go. No one who has not been there can understand what combat is like but Stephen Ambrose brings us closer to an understanding than any other historian has done." "The Victors" also includes stories of individual battles, raids, acts of courage and suffering from Pegasus Bridge, an account of the first engagement of D-Day, when a detachment of British airborne troops stormed the German defense forces and paved the way for the Allied invasion; and from Band of Brothers, an account of an American rifle company from the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment who fought, died, and conquered, from Utah Beach through the Bulge and on to Hitter's Eagle's Nest in Germany.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book! Very annotated/highly recommend/prompt shipping.......2007-08-23

A point of view seldom seen: the kids in the field who had to grow up very quickly. With a strong sense of duty and honor they lived up to their moniker, The Greatest Generation.

Not the best, but a good read nonetheless.......2007-03-20

Unlike his other works, DDay, Band of Brothers and Citizen Soldiers, which cover specific elements of the European theater, The Victors tries to cover the period from DDay through the fall of Germany. As always, Ambrose demonstrated why he was one of the best story tellers. Unfortunately, as his preface pointed out, this was put together from the research he had done on his other books.

If you are familiar with the three books mentioned in above, you will find a lot of overlap. I am sure he did some more original research for this, but the overall premise is very similar.

The over-arching theme of the Victors is that the allied success was due to the flexibility of the US troops, in particular the LTs and other NCO's, and the regular soldiers. Their determination and ability to adapt to the changing situations on the ground, the antithesis of the Germans, was what helped carry the war in the favor of the allies. He also spends the beginning of the book on Eisenhower. Ike is the other piece of the puzzle that, despite some mistakes and flaws, he credits with putting together the largest military campaign in history - Operation Overlord.

The only real criticism I would have is that the story line was somewhat disjointed. Stories are told seemingly for the sake of telling them, rather than having a real purpose. But I can overlook that since there is a lot of first person accounts that give the war a very human touch. And the stories you read about, make it very worthwhile.

Aside from that, it was an entertaining read, just like all of his other books. His admiration for the courage of that generation is clear. And his talent for telling a story certainly shines through. If you are interested in more detail, I would recommend reading DDay, Citizen Soldiers and Band of Brothers first. If you are simply looking to pass the time on the train, as I was, you will find the time passing along much more quickly.

I purchased the book at the Newark Penn Station Bookstore. I recommend the bookstore and the book.

The Victors.......2004-04-13

From the very beginning of the book I was enticed. I thought it was very well written and an enjoyable read. It includes stories and things I would have never expected. I thought the relationship between Marshall and Eisenhower was most interesting. I had not learned much about Marshall and Eisenhower's personalities. They were opposites yet worked very well together. Their relationship was based on trust. It is inspirational to hear of all that our soldiers went through during World War II. As someone looking back it helped me to better understand what went on and what the soldiers experienced first hand. I thought "The Victors" was a wonderful book and spanned over a good period of time. I would highly recommend it to others as a World War II informative book.

Fighting in the cold.......2004-02-10

This covers the European theater from D day to the end.
The futile battles of the Hurtgen forest are documented. A waste of men for nothing. We gave up our advantages of air power and tanks to fight in an impenatrable forest.
What struck me over and over, was what the men fighting endured.
The supply situation was what is was always in the military. Those in the rear get the gear. Those doing the fighting get the remains.
In the battle of the Hurtgen forest, during a visit by Ike, a company of Rangers complained to Ike about the lack of cold weather gear. He got the Rangers cold weather gear, but not the other thousands of men doing the fighting.
The same applied in the battle of the Bulge. The people in the rear out of the line of fire had waterproof, warm boots, and huge overcoats to keep warm. Those doing the fighting had summer uniforms, leather boots, and had to fight without benefit of fire to keep them warm, or get their food warm. The result was thousands of men with trench foot. The men went hungry a lot of the time due to impassible roads, so food supplies could not be brought up.
The men who endured this were heros.
Ike was the first to realize what Hitler was up to when the Battle of the Bulge started, and got Patton moving on a counterattack plan immediately, which succeeded.
Thanks to Steve Ambrose, the suffering of the men who did the fighting is documented.

Sort of a best of Stephen Ambrose.......2003-05-26

I have read most of the books by Ambrose and the material in The Victors is covered better in his other works. It isn;t bad, but the only reader who might find it interesting is someone who was looking to get into Ambrose's WWII works. Anyone else but the completists will probably not enjoy this book.

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