Crusades In Europe

Rating:
Summary: A great military as well as personal account
Review: Eisenhower quickly brings us up to speed with the US armed forced when Germany overruns Poland and later when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. He gives the state of our preparedness, discusses the able officers who were headed to develop our forces, and describes episodes that changed our training and effectiveness. He meets daily with the major players and heads of state and gives glimpses of their personalities as well as their views. He discusses where politics and the military overlap and where damages might occur. He discusses strategy and tactics and carefully distinguishes for the reader the differences. He clearly demonstrates pitfalls and purposes in the practice and preparation and execution of a successful war. From top to bottom along the line, he explains stresses on commander as well as enlisted troops, such as confidence and morale among other aspects. Throughout the book we gain confidence in Eisenhower's easy, open style, his sincerity and his trustworthiness. A remarkable man makes clear and plain a very complex time in our country's history, including his own views on the aftermath of WWII and the growing tensions between ourselves and Russia.

A wonderful book for veterans and non-veterans alike.

Rating:
Summary: Really Great Book. Up to par with the late Stephen Ambrose.
Review: Eisenhower, contrary to many beliefs, was one of the greatest conquerors of all time. He was a warrior and a national leader. Books about him, like the Ambrose ones, are very interesting and present a good view of the war, yet I have always believed that seeing the war through the eyes of the warrior is the best way. Personally, I don't believe that Ike wanted this book to show emotion, it was meant as a book on the broad picture of the war in Europe. He did a fabulous job of presenting it from the perspective, as he did a fabulous job making decisions during the course of the war. This book is as good, if not better, than Ambrose's works.

Rating:
Summary: Unique Perspective of War from Ike
Review: General Eisenhower presents a very unique perspective on the ETO throughout Crusade in Europe since he was the one and only Supreme Allied Commander in the theatre. In his role as Commander, he was privy to a vast array of the decision making discussions that took place to create the Allied strategy against Nazi Germany. In this book, he brings to light a lot of the strategic thinking and planning that went into the Allied victory in WWII. Therefore, I would consider this book required reading for anyone interested in WWII history.

Having said that, I think that the book does fall short of its objective for two main reasons. First, Ike is hesitant to criticize other leaders for bad decisions, and tactical mistakes. For instance, Ike blames the lack of success in Operation Market Garden more on the weather than the ill conceived plan that Monty used to execute this daring mission. Secondly, Ike does not display much emotion when telling the tale. For example, when Ike talks about the Battle of the Bulge, he infurs that the Allies expected the attack, and felt almost no panic when it came. If you look at books from others involved in the fighting, you get a much different perspective.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and wished I could give it 5 stars. It should be a 5-star book, because of the unique position that Ike fulfilled in the ETO. Instead, I give it 4 stars, but highly recommend it to anyone interested in WWII history.

Rating:
Summary: Another Crusade
Review: General Eisenhower, contrary to press reports and revisionist historians, was a man of great intelligence, strength, and discipline. He wrote this book in 1948 without ghost-writers, and his wit and wisdom are stunning. Everyone needs to read this to understand the issues that face us in Iraq and elsewhere today. The general explains how the real work of the military is developing strategy, drawing up plans, building relationships with governments and civilians, and quickly implementing and changing the plans as required. Only criticism is his tencency to dismiss the inappropriate behavior of Patton, but keep in mind that Patton was already dead when this book was written and Eisenhower would not criticize those who were not positioned to defend themselves. He is critical of others, especially Montgomery for his foolish proposal of launching a blitz on Berlin to bring the war to an early end. Another lesson for our time is the treachery of the French troops both in Vichy and Algeria, who fight the Allied invasion and put personal objectives above military and political goals. Unbelievable candor throughout such as when Eisenhower reports that an obviously overwhelmed Truman offers to help Eisenhower in any way that he can, including supporting him for the Presidency in 1948. Important career lesson: Eisenhower did not receive any significant promotions in the 20 years after WWI and was doing staff work under McArthur for 5 years, building up the Filipino military, yet became the highest rank allied commander, through hard work, dedication, and leadership.

Rating:
Summary: Written too soon
Review: Since nobody has yet reviewed this, I thought I'd take a shot, even though it's been about 27 years or so since I read the book.

This is Eisenhower's own story from the early days when he was called by Marshall to Washington to analyze propects for the war in the Pacific, to his being Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe.

As most everyone knows, once the US was involved in a serious war, Eisenhower jumped in promotion over many others. After reading this book it's easy to see why.

This book is not as frank as we would expect today, and some of incidents are presented as if written by Norman Rockwell. Yet this book is excellent in presenting Eisenhower's view of the war. It is a view from on high, and it is best contrasted with Bradley's book, _A Soldier's Story_, which is much more emotional, direct and forthright.

But it's easy to see Eisenhower's much broader perspective. He's much more concerned with the issues of organizing and prosecuting the war from the questions of where are we going to get the materials, the ships, the troops, the ammunition, the landing craft, etc., than is Bradley, who is almost completely--again remembering from 27 years ago--involved only with the battles and which division is where.

Also, it's often not hard to read between the lines on those occassions when Eisenhower retreats into puff prose, to know what he was really thinking.

5 stars, because I don't see how one can understand the military aspect of WWII in western Europe without having read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Should Be Required High School, College Reading
Review: This should be required reading in high schools and universities. The description of battles is not the primary focus. The book is about the political and military personalities, the political and economic considerations, the benefits and problems of press coverage, risk management, planning and preparation, limitations of material and transportation, the justification of risking lives, military vs. social issues, the impossibility of knowing everything and always being right, individual efforts (from generals to troops), the consequences of weather, seasonal considerations, the importance of unified command, team building, and morale. Morale is critical, requiring many factors and constant effort.

It is the fleshed out, rounded picture of war and people that makes it interesting. Of course, he is an politically astute, or he would not have been able to do the job; so, he doesn't really give the dirt on people even while indicating problems.

He fully understands the critical issues of logistics and the productive capacity of a nation at war. (For an even deeper understanding of this, and how it fails under dictatorships from ancient Sparta and Rome to modern Germany and Japan, see the chapter, "The Energy Circuit in Wartime," in Paterson's "The God of the Machine.")

Given the various failures and miscalculations of large operations, the reader can easily imagine that given the attitudes of modern press coverage of Iraq by shallow minded news anchors and politicians, neither Eisenhower, nor Bradly, nor Montgomery, nor Patton would have been able to keep their jobs.

One lesson: It takes months, even years to properly plan and prepare for major military operations, depending on the strength of the enemy. In this case, from the need to design and build new types of landing craft to the need for feeding the civilians of Europe.

Rating:
Summary: This is a great, broad review of Ike's outlook on WWII.
Review: This was book I couldn't put down. Yes, I agree with some of the comments by the other two reviewers. It does have a "Norman Rockwell" feel to it but that's Ike; what are you going to do about that? No, it wasn't written too soon. Sure, it can't draw upon tons of declassified material but it's so fresh it more than compensates.

Ike also has the unique position of being between the military and the political and of discussing that quite nicely. My one criticism is that at the end Ike gets a little preachy in the "Russia" chapter. But, who cares? It's a great book!

Rating:
Summary: Ike's Manifesto
Review: Very good book for someone seeking the view of the War in Europe from Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, essentially the CEO of the war in the west. Not a ghostwritten account, and at times it's difficult to keep straight the one-star and two-star generals, as Ike mentions the name, what he did, and whether he was British, Canadian, or American. A professionial writer (although this is still a very readable book) would add a physical desription, and when the name comes up again, that writer would refer to him as "the British general."

I read Churchill's "Second World War" before this, and it's interesting to see Churchill's various rebuttals to criticisms by Ike of the Prime Minister. (There weren't that many of them).

One almost comical account was Churchill's insistance that he visit the Normandy beaches--on D-Day! Luckily, King George stepped in and resolved the situation and kept the 69 year-old Prime Minister in London on June 6.

Ike does a pretty good job of keeping the Zeus-like egos of Montgomery, Patton and DeGaulle in check, too.

In my opinion, Eisenhower doesn't get as much credit as he deserves, as just getting a force of the size of the Allied Expeditionary Force supplied with ammnuniton, fuel, food and the like was a monumental task.

Rating:
Summary: Ike 's PROFILES IN COURAGE
Review: While I can certainly appreciate the political problems Dwight David Eisenhower had to deal with while executing the liberation of Europe, I find this, his own description of D-DAY to VE-DAY quite wanting in the historical perspective.

There is little doubt that being between FDR, Marshall and Churchill was quite a daunting assignment. What is most intriguing about Ike's account of the lengths The US War Department went to help Bataan is just how many pages Ike devotes to apologizing for virtually abandoning it. Is there a new study on why the US Defense Department abandoned Bataan here?
Are the facts as Ike spelled them out, a coverup?

Much of this book has been repeatedly cited in the numerous WWII
European war studies that have come out since its initial publication. Ike's prose is elegant and witty. It is a good read if you are interested in Ike's opinions on his military staff and his personal war experiences. But as a study on the European and African theatres of WWII it lacks scholarship.

But, if you were going to run as a candidate for President of the United States(or was being drafted by the Republicans and Democrats at the time), this is sure a nice book to base a Presidential campaign on.