Patton: Old Blood and Guts

by Trevor Royle

General George Smith Patton came to the fore in the fighting in North Africa and Sicily in 1942 and 1943 as a tough and inspirational field commander who drove his army as relentlessly as he did... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0297846760
• ISBN13: 9780297846765
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson
• Length: 223 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

A magnificently conflicted personality

In Patton: Old Blood and Guts, the general is rendered with all his magnificent complexity in economic, intelligent prose by Trevor Royle. This is a small but immensely readable biography, and it is a perfect introduction to its subject. The Germans admired and feared Patton because he understood the tactics and psychology of blitzkrieg fighting perhaps better than any other Allied leader. Royle demonstrates how Patton's knowledge of this type of warfare and his psychological makeup made him the perfect commander to pursue the German army after the Normandy breakout. Royle is an honest biographer, and he is quick to note how Patton's aggressive mindset sometimes caused him to act--and famously speak--without considering the consequences: "Throughout Patton's life he attracted conflicting absolutes: with him it had to be all or nothing. There could be no middle way." Royle's suburb journalistic skills summarize well an American-born general who often seemed to possess the mind of a European commander.