Reviews for There's a War to Be Won: The United States Army in World War II

The average rating for There's a War to Be Won: The United States Army in World War II based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-11-10 00:00:00 Davide Muffatto Perret offers a first-rate history of what went into the shaping of the U.S. Army in the Second World War. What was fascinating to learn was that, as late as 1940, the U.S. Army was ranked below that of Portugal. Through reading this book, the reader sees how it was through the foresight of people like George C. Marshall and other fine soldiers such as Matthew Ridgway, Maxwell Taylor, Bradley, Eisenhower, and Patton, that the U.S. was able to develop, by 1944 and 1945, one of the finest armies in the history of the world. What is also really good about this book is the insight Perret provides about the ordinary GI and the distinguished service provided by African-American combat units, such as the 969th Field Artillery Battalion, the 761st Tank Battalion (which served continuously in combat longer than any other U.S. tank battalion in Europe), the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, and the 92nd Infantry Division. I highly recommend this book. It offers an excellent introduction to anyone who wants to know more about the U.S. Army and its role in the Second World War.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-09-21 00:00:00 Gregory Sovetts On top of his superhuman logistic, military-industrial management skills, George Marshall also gets a thumbs up for sucessfully dealing with Montgomery and the wounded pride of the British. That wounded pride came with quite a bit of nastiness, at times devious, at others hilariously balls-out (like the time, just after the German surrender, when the British realized they couldn't feed their agreed-on 50% of POWs; they had also agreed to transfer to the Americans thousands of Austrian horses, which they duly sent along accompanied by 80,000 POWs, "caretakers" for the horses). Perret makes the case that Monty was a superb corps-level commander promoted to army command and belaureled above his ability by the British need for a ground forces hero. He'd beaten Rommel, after all. He could also be an absurd drama queen--there is something so Monty Python-ish about a carefully dignified Field Marshall suddenly tantruming like a crazed child--and a pain in the ass to rival MacArthur. Those two guys make Patton look humble and cooperative. US-British friction stood out for me, but this book really has everything. A good operational overview, plus a ton of info on logistics, shipping, military pedagogy, industrial output--stuff I really geek out for.