A General's Life

Rating:
Summary: Omar Bradley
Review: An outstanding autobiography of General Omar Bradley. Informative and homorous at times, but always entertaining. I found the work to have no slow areas, it held my attention throughout. Not only is it the story of Omar Bradley but it is also the story of the US Army for the first half of the twentieth century. Students of World War II history and the true military professional will enjoy this book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rating:
Summary: Essential 20th Century History AND a Darned Good Book
Review: I was extremely surprized by this book. It is quite well-written and it tells a terrific story -- and though it is fully first-person, Omar Bradley comes across as a really fine guy. While he genuinely earned the rank, authority and privilege he ultimately exercised as a top US Army general, the story of his slow-but-steady rise through the hierarchy conveys the depth of personality he had achieved by the time he reached the upper ranks. A biography of George Marshall calls Bradley the "most effective troop leader ever produced by the US military system," and one can certainly see the validity in that appraisal by reading his autobiography. Bradley's honesty about other famous generals is interesting (though it is true he pretty much outlived all of them, and was able to have the final word) and appropriatedly honest/kind. Not far into the book, you wish you actually knew him, he seems the sort who would make a great friend.

Bradley's evaluations of several significant events make this book essential reading for students of 20th Century history. The perspective from which he witnessed everything was perfect for retrospective observation -- he wasn't so high up (like Churchill) that he had a global view, nor so low down that he could only see the trenches. And his micro-brief account of Anthony McAuliffe's "Nuts!" episode is just laugh-out-loud funny.

Rating:
Summary: Essential 20th Century History AND a Darned Good Book
Review: I was extremely surprized by this book. It is quite well-written and it tells a terrific story -- and though it is fully first-person, Omar Bradley comes across as a really fine guy. While he genuinely earned the rank, authority and privilege he ultimately exercised as a top US Army general, the story of his slow-but-steady rise through the hierarchy conveys the depth of personality he had achieved by the time he reached the upper ranks. A biography of George Marshall calls Bradley the "most effective troop leader ever produced by the US military system," and one can certainly see the validity in that appraisal by reading his autobiography. Bradley's honesty about other famous generals is interesting (though it is true he pretty much outlived all of them, and was able to have the final word) and appropriatedly honest/kind. Not far into the book, you wish you actually knew him, he seems the sort who would make a great friend.

Bradley's evaluations of several significant events make this book essential reading for students of 20th Century history. The perspective from which he witnessed everything was perfect for retrospective observation -- he wasn't so high up (like Churchill) that he had a global view, nor so low down that he could only see the trenches. And his micro-brief account of Anthony McAuliffe's "Nuts!" episode is just laugh-out-loud funny.