War As I Knew It
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1947. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. xix, [1], 425 pages. Front endpaper map Rear endpaper illustration. Maps. Footnotes. Tabular data. Appendices. DJ is in a plastic sleeve with substantial wear, tears, soiling and portions missing. Gift inscription, not from author, on half-title verso. George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Born in 1885, Patton attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. Patton entered combat during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916, the United States' first military action using motor vehicles. He fought in World War I as part of the new United States Tank Corps of the American Expeditionary Forces. Patton became a central figure in the development of the army's armored warfare doctrine. At the start of the Western Allied invasion of France, Patton was given command of the Third Army, which conducted a highly successful rapid armored drive across France. Under his decisive leadership, the Third Army took the lead in relieving beleaguered American troops at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, after which his forces drove deep into Nazi Germany by the end of the war. His emphasis on rapid and aggressive offensive action proved effective, and he was regarded highly by his opponents in the German High Command. An award-winning biographical film released in 1970, Patton, helped popularize his image. More