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Summary
Summary
From the bestselling author of Patton: A Genius for War comes a compelling new account of the transformation of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, from apprehensive soldier to one of our greatest heros.
In the weeks leading up to D-Day, Dwight D. Eisenhower seethed with nervous energy. He had not expected his military career to bring him to this moment. The son of pacifists, Ike graduated from high school more likely to teach history than to make it. Casting new light on this profound evolution, Eisenhower chronicles the unlikely, dramatic rise of the supreme Allied commander.
Beginning with the lasting effect of Eisenhower's impoverished youth, bestselling biographer Carlo D'Este follows his subject through West Point and a sometimes troubled marriage; toil under MacArthur in the Philippines during the 1930s; the inner sanctums of the War Department; the general's painful North African apprenticeship; and, finally, the dramatic events leading to the Allied victory in May 1945.
Exposing for the first time numerous myths that have surrounded the war hero and his family (such as his romance with his wartime driver, Kay Summersby), D'Este also probes Eisenhower's famous clashes with his American peers and the British chiefs of staff, as well as his relations with legendary figures, including Winston Churchill and George S. Patton.
Unlike other biographies of the general, Eisenhower captures Ike's true character, from his youth to the pinnacle of his career and afterward.
Author Notes
Carlo D'Este is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and a distinguished military historian. He lives in New Seabury, Massachusetts.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A lieutenant colonel at 50 with no military future ahead of him in the stifling between-the-wars promotion system, Eisenhower became, in little more than three years and three months, a five-star general. D'Este (Patton: A Genius for War) sees Ike's rise as predicated upon his having been recognized as "the ultimate career bureaucrat he so disdained." Never having had hands-on command of a unit in combat, Eisenhower would pay heavy prices for his inexperience. Yet D'Este seems to agree with General Omar Bradley that Ike lived an "extraordinarily charmed life" on the basis of likability, desk-officer brilliance and the active patronage of influential men. Although D'Este, who carries Eisenhower's career only through victory in Europe in May 1945, leans heavily upon Russell Weigley's masterly Eisenhower's Lieutenants, he goes well beyond Weigley in indicting the supreme commander for so grossly playing favorites as to keep incompetents in major positions, for command indecision and indifference about such crucial dimensions of combat as logistics, and for a litany of strategic blunders that lengthened and raised the price of the war. He also attempts but fails to bypass the delicate matter of Eisenhower's attentions to his British chauffeur and aide, Kay Summersby. Although at first he contends loyally that their names would be "wrongly" linked, later he notes that it was "common knowledge among war correspondents that something was going on between them." At the close, our knowledge of the future eminence of D'Este's flawed hero seems to validate the implied if reluctant verdict of a charmed life. Still, its dramatic objectivity about Eisenhower's significantly flawed career as a WWII commander will earn this volume attention and controversy. 16 pages of b&w illustrations, 4 maps not seen by PW. (June 4) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
D'Este structures his biography of Eisenhower around his career as an officer. He specifically concentrates on Eisenhower's "apprenticeship" in the 1920s and 1930s and his conduct as supreme Allied commander in Europe. Himself a former U.S. Army officer, D'Este has written a meticulously researched, professional appraisal of Eisenhower's military record, but readers need not fear that his narrative is as dry as an efficiency report. D'Este has built a premier and popular reputation as a military historian (e.g., Patton: A Genius for War, 1995) and enlivens Ike's story by recounting his competitive relationships with his brothers, his strained one with wife Mamie, and his gossip-producing liaison with wartime chauffeur Kay Summersby. Yet Ike's military performance is D'Este's primary concern, and he is not a cheerleader; he calls it "miserable" in Tunisia in 1942^-43. An expert on the Battle of Normandy, D'Este critiques Ike's strategy there, but improves his opinions of Ike's actions in ensuing controversies--and sympathizes with his abrasions with British generals Brooke and Montgomery. A weighty and significant contribution to Ikenography. --Gilbert Taylor
Kirkus Review
Exhaustive, highly readable study of Ike the soldier, from his modest Kansas origins through V-E Day. Descended from a long line of religious pacifists, Dwight D. Eisenhower was to end his political career by decrying the "military-industrial complex." Yet, retired US Army officer and military historian D'Este (Patton: A Genius for War, 1993) points out, although he was president of the US, Eisenhower "would have been elated merely to be remembered as a soldier." Thus, D'Este limits his treatment to Ike's military accomplishments. The first was graduating in the class of 1915 at West Point, where his indifference to discipline won him many demerits. After WWI, which he sat out as a trainer of the infant Tank Corps, Eisenhower distinguished himself in staff assignments, through associations with key officers who aided his climb up the Army ladder. D'Este portrays his subject as a complex personality, beneath whose sunny smile and easygoing manner lay ruthless ambition and a first-rate intelligence. After an important stint in 1925 at the Staff School in Fort Leavenworth, Eisenhower commenced a career as a high-level staff officer, mostly engaged in turbulent service stateside and in the Philippines to the imperious, histrionic Douglas MacArthur. After WWII began, Eisenhower's mastery of the problems of industrial mobilization endeared him to George Marshall and won him assignments as strategic planner for the Mediterranean campaigns. The bulk of D'Este's account is devoted to Ike's masterful command of the Allied effort in Europe, which entailed brilliant diplomacy as much as military acumen. The biographer not only conveys the strategic problems Eisenhower faced, but shows how the general's personal qualities-his unpretentiousness, single-minded dedication to the task, and sensitivity to the difficulty of forging unity between two proud allies who were often mistrustful of each other-ultimately drove the Allied war machine to victory. An absorbing portrait of the growth of Eisenhower the man and a fine analysis of the accomplishments of Eisenhower the general.
Library Journal Review
Having assayed Patton, retired U.S. Army lieutenant D'Este here fries an even bigger fish. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
The noise was deafening. Eisenhower and the members of his party climbed onto the roof of the division headquarters to watch in silence as hundreds of aircraft and gliders lumbered into the rapidly darkening sky, again saluting as each aircraft passed by. For Eisenhower, a man unused to publicly expressing his emotions, it was a painfully moving, yet exhilarating experience, and the closest he would come to being one of them. NBC correspondent Merrill Mueller stood nearby and noted that Eisenhower, his hands deep in his pockets, had tears in his eyes. Eisenhower remained after the last aircraft had taken off and their sounds had faded away in the night. Strolling back to his staff car, deep in thought, his shoulders sagging as they did whenever he was troubled, Kay Summersby thought him the loneliest man in the world at that moment. The knot of apprehension in his gut can only be imagined, but the expression on his face revealed more than words. "Well, it's on," he said somberly, again looking up at the night sky, "no one can stop it now." Excerpted from Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life by Carlo D'Este All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
