Title: Killing Patton
Author: Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9668-2
Publisher: Henry Holt Books
Year: 2014
Hardcover
Pages: 352
Photographs/Maps: 30/19
This is the fourth book in the series written
by the authors identifying controversial or sensationalist aspects about the
deaths of their subjects; in this case Gen George S Patton. The book provides
an overview of Patton’s drive through Western Europe and his clashes with many
of his superiors and allies. It includes his efforts to try and have the war
extended beyond the defeat of Germany into a clash with the Soviet Union.
That Patton was a dynamic, driven and
controversial General is beyond doubt. That there was a conspiracy to have him
killed for political reasons has not, in the opinion of this reviewer, been
proven by this narrative. Indeed the portion relating to his death and the
alleged plot takes up only the final few pages of the book. There are a number
of books and authors that provide a much better analysis of Patton as a Commander
and a General. This book, while providing a broad brush discussion of his
achievements, did not provide any more than a shallow recitation of the Patton
experience. It was also very suggestive of a USA bias regarding Patton’s
competencies (suggesting for example that the only Axis General that was equal
to Patton was Rommel – something that historians would take umbrage with when
considering Manstein, Guderian, Balck, Raus or Manteuffel to name a few).
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