Topics of Interest

Having served with Patton, years later, the author wrote a book about the principles General Patton used to instill unprecedented motivation and success in his troops. Further, this book was warmly endorsed by both General Patton's son and daughter as being true to the character of their father -- his drive, his indomitable will, his faith, his genius as a warrior, and especially of the extraordinary bond with his troops. The many principles stated are grouped within these topics: leadership, command & management, fitness, pride-courage-confidence, decisions, success, and life & death.

General George S. Patton Jr, an inspirational leader and outstanding tactician, has intrigued and confounded his biographers. Utilising untapped archival materials in both the USA and UK, government documents, family papers, and oral histories, Hirshson creates the most balanced portrait of Patton ever written. It reveals Patton as a complex soldier capable of brilliant military manoeuvres but also of inspiring his troops with fiery speeches that resulted in horrendous acts, such as the massacres of Italian civilians. It explains Patton′s belief in a soldier′s Valhalla, connects the family′s wealth to one of America′s bitterest labour strikes, and disputes the usual interpretation of Patton′s relief from command of the Third Army. In investigating this complex man, Hirshson has uncovered surprising material about a series of civilian massacres in Sicily, about the two slapping incidents, about attempts to exploit Patton′s diary after his death, and about Patton′s relations with top Allied generals. Patton emerges as a soldier of great imagination and courage, and his military campaigns make for edge-of-the-seat reading. All the drama of Patton′s life comes alive in this meticulously documented volume.

The enigmatic science of military intelligence is examined in this personal record, written by Brig.Gen. Oscar W. Koch, who served during World War II as chief of intelligence for General George S. Patton, Jr., one of the most colorful military leaders in American history. General Koch traces the growth and development of the infant science through detailed accounts of the intelligence role in some of the most celebrated battles of the war, and through his personal remembrances of Patton and his relationships with members of his intelligence staff. His story moves from the African campaign through Sicily, into France on D-Day and on to the Battle of the Bulge, pointing out how the work of the intelligence staff made the differences in the final reckoning. General Koch's book is more than a historical study, however. It is the exciting story of the operations behind the cloak and dagger illusions.

This is the story of General George S. Patton's magnificent Third Army as it advanced across Nazi-occupied Europe and into Hitler's redoubt in the last year of World War II. As America's own answer to Blitzkrieg, Third Army's actions from the Normandy coast across France and Germany to Austria gave a new dimension to the term "fluid warfare." They only needed one general order--to seek out the enemy, trap, and destroy them. This they did, relentlessly overcoming every obstacle thrown in their way. Third Army's story is one of the teamwork, of armor, infantry, and aircraft working together with a perfection that even amazed the Germans, who had always considered themselves the masters of the mobile offensive. Though Third Army is often remembered for its tank spearheads, like the 4th Armored Division, these pages also give credit to the brave infantry divisions which butted their heads against fortresses such as Metz with ultimate success.

What can we learn about leadership and the experience of war from the best combat leaders the world has ever known? This book takes us behind the scenes and to the front lines of the major wars of the past 250 years through the words of twenty combat commanders. What they have to say--which is remarkably similar across generational, national, and ideological divides--is a fascinating take on military history by those who lived it. It is also worthwhile reading for anyone, from any walk of life, who makes executive decisions. The leaders showcased here range from Frederick the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf. They include such diverse figures as Napoleon Bonaparte, commanders on both sides of the Civil War (William Tecumseh Sherman and Stonewall Jackson), German and American World War II generals (Rommel and Patton), a veteran of the Arab-Israeli wars (Moshe Dayan), and leaders from both sides of the Vietnam War (Vo Nguyen Giap and Harold Moore).

In this detailed biography of Schwarzkopf, the authors have used lengthy interviews to help tell the renowned Gulf War general's story.

When General Stanley McChrystal took command of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in 2004, he quickly realized that conventional military tactics were failing. Al Qaeda in Iraq was a decentralized network that could move quickly, strike ruthlessly, then seemingly vanish into the local population. The allied forces had a huge advantage in numbers, equipment, and training--but none of that seemed to matter. Because of this, his Task Force would have to acquire the enemy's speed and flexibility. In turn, McChrystal and his colleagues discarded a century of conventional wisdom and remade the Task Force, in the midst of a grueling war, into something new: a network that combined extremely transparent communication with decentralized decision-making authority. Leaders looked at the best practices of the smallest units and found ways to ex­tend them to thousands of people on three continents, using technology to establish a oneness that would have been impossible even a decade earlier. The Task Force became a "team of teams"--faster, flatter, more flex­ible--and beat back Al Qaeda.

Call Sign Chaos is the account of Jim Mattis's storied career, from wide-ranging leadership roles in three wars to ultimately commanding a quarter of a million troops across the Middle East. Along the way, Mattis recounts his foundational experiences as a leader, extracting the lessons he has learned about the nature of warfighting and peacemaking, the importance of allies, and the strategic dilemmas--and short-sighted thinking--now facing our nation. He makes it clear why America must return to a strategic footing so as not to continue winning battles but fighting inconclusive wars. Mattis divides his book into three parts: Direct Leadership, Executive Leadership, and Strategic Leadership. In the first part, Mattis recalls his early experiences leading Marines into battle, when he knew his troops as well as his own brothers. In the second part, he explores what it means to command thousands of troops and how to adapt your leadership style to ensure your intent is understood by your most junior troops so that they can own their mission. In the third part, Mattis describes the challenges and techniques of leadership at the strategic level, where military leaders reconcile war's grim realities with political leaders' human aspirations, where complexity reigns and the consequences of imprudence are severe, even catastrophic.

A devout student of history and erudite reader revered by rank and file soldiers, officers, academics, politicians, and ordinary citizens, General James Mattis is one of the most admired leaders serving America today. A man who has long used his position as a model for the soldiers he leads, Mattis in 2003 shared a "Message to All Hands" with the men and women under his command, outlining their responsibilities as soldiers of the corps. Emphasizing the importance of the mission and the goal to act with honor, Mattis ended with the motto he had adopted from another great figure, Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla: "Demonstrate to the world that there is 'No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy' than a US Marine." The first Trump presidential cabinet nominee, Mattis, retired from activity military duty for only three years at the time, received a rare Congressional waiver to hold the civilian position of Secretary of Defense, and in the hyper-partisan political atmosphere of 2017, astonishingly received nearly unanimous, bipartisan support for his nomination. After months of headline-making chaos involving the White House, Mattis remains one of the few widely revered members of the Trump administration.

The Marine Corps is known for its heroes, and Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller has long been considered one of the greatest. Puller mastered small unit guerrilla warfare as a lieutenant in Haiti in the 1920s, and at the end of his career commanded a division in Korea. In between, he chased Sandino in Nicaragua and fought at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu. With his bulldog face, barrel chest (which earned him the nickname Chesty), gruff voice, and common touch, Puller became the epitome of the Marine combat officer. At times Puller's actions have been called into question--at Peleliu, for instance, where, against a heavily fortified position, he lost more than half of his regiment. And then there is the saga of his son, who followed in Chesty's footsteps as a Marine officer only to suffer horrible wounds in Vietnam.

He was too tough even for the Marine Corps Chesty Puller enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1918 at the age of 20. He chased bandits in Haiti and Nicaragua, commanded the Horse Marines in Peking, battled his way from island to bloody island in the Pacific, led the landing at Inchon, and fought the most savage rearguard action of the Korean War. He became a legend in his own time, yet was forced into early retirement with the rank of lieutenant general. Why? No officer every inspired greater courage, loyalty, and devotion from his men, pushed them harder or served them better. But this popularity added to his blunt honesty earned him many enemies in Washington, and when the war was done they no longer needed a fighter like Chesty.  Here is the explosive true story of the most courageous and controversial commander of them all--the fabulous tale of a real-life hero.