Patton, Montgomery, Rommel

Masters of War

By: Terry Brighton

Narrated by: Mel Foster

Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

In the Second World War, the United States, Great Britain, and Germany each produced one land-force commander who stood out from the rest: George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and Erwin Rommel. All were arrogant, publicity seeking, and personally flawed, yet each possessed a genius for command and an unrivaled enthusiasm for combat. But their explosive relationships with one another rivaled the pyrotechnics of their tank battles in determining the conduct and outcome of the war.

In the first book of its kind, historian Terry Brighton brings all three men "together" against a backdrop of the great armored battles of the war. Brighton dug through archives in England, Germany, and the United States to find new primary source material and interpretations of how these masters of battle sought the fight, despised the politics, and captured their own glory.

Was Patton actually like George C. Scott's portrayal of him in Patton? Did Monty always steal thunder from Patton? How would the war have ended if Rommel had had more tanks? Brighton tackles these absorbing questions and more in a fascinating book that any student of history will savor.

©2009 Terry Brighton (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Brighton [moves] into the top rank of general audience military writers with this effervescent, perceptive triple biography." ( Publishers Weekly)

A must read for world war II aficionados.

The intricate situation of the balance of powers between axis and allied powers was no where better reflected than the personal rivalries and contrasting strategies of these fine generals. Undoubtedly one of the most enlightening read on the battle strategies and mobile warfare , this book should be amongst the best books on the war. Steering clear of bias and political upmanship or avoiding being bogged down by the grotesque details of Holocaust, this is a fine read on how thin the margins were between victory and losses of some of the most key battlegrounds in world war II. More interesting was the contrast of their personalities which often dictated how they would proceed on a battlefield. The details of the battle of El-Alamine, Operation Overlord and Sicily campaign were fascinating to read. I would highly recommend this to everyone interested in world war II.

Good Description of the top Generals

A great book for a run at the highlights of the three generals in one book.

Exceptional and enjoyable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It moves smoothly between each of the three principals in a time-line format that proves fascinating. The story compares and contrasts each leader within his own theater of operations as well as his/their impact on a global perspective. Well done and recommended.

A Nice Mix

Any additional comments?

A nice mix of what made the three generals tick. From their youth until the war, an interlocking sketch is provided. Light, but not bad.

Three Masters of Warfare

Great parallel account of the three WWII generals with insights into their strengths and weaknesses.

Very easy read, loved every minute!

Superbly written and brilliantly narrated! Very easy to get absorbed into. Very detailed history of the men, their characters and their actions from both WWI and WWII as well as important details from their upbringing and early development.

Unexpected

This book turned out to be quite a surprise for me. I have read a good deal about the Second World War including descriptions of the battles in North Africa, Italy, Western and Eastern Europe and the Pacific so I did not expect to learn much new. Still I thought that the concentration on Patton, Montgomery and Rommel was an interesting approach and I expected to enjoy the book.

To my surprise I found the book to be not only engaging, but to offer a view of the war quite different from all I had read before. It was full of vignettes and information that was new to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it and was somewhat disappointed when it finished.

It did not touch of some of the things I would like to have known about the three men, but I feel that I can highly recommend this book to those with an interest in the people involved in the Western European and North African campaigns in the Second World War. But please note that this book is concerned with the three principals named and this book is more about them and their approaches to the war (and to each other) than about the details of the battles concerned. If you are looking for details about the battles themselves you should probably look elsewhere.

This is a 3.5 for me

I like military history and this was a worthwhile listen. It was better than average but less than good. I would recommend it to a war buff but not an average listener.

Excellent ... Patton, Montgomery, Rommel

I was more than pleasantly surprised with this book and Terry Brighton, who I never read before, pulled off something rather extraordinary. Far from being a gimmicky attempt to use top generals to slap together an historical narrative, this book is very well written, the content well researched, and the presentation well delivered.

From an historical perspective this is a surprisingly good book on WWII. I liked how the author offers several view points on a subject, or the motivation of why a General did "x", and when he gave his own insights I found them to be well reasoned and thoughtful. I also found myself both liking and disliking all three of these great "Masters of War", and the excellent back drop of the important events in WWII made this an enjoyable read.

I came away with a better understanding of all three men, and surprising insight on the course of the war in the Western theatre and how significant each of these men were in the overall outcome of the major battles and the war itself. Whether you are a war buff; or are new to the world wars in Europe, I think you will find this book informative an enjoyable as I did.

Great history

Great story of each man's career including a little info on their pre-war lives. I think the author did a good job not delivering the standard analysis of each man and their respective motivation, but tried to look at the historical records of their career as whole to establish patterns. It kept my interest the whole way. Though it would have been useful to have a map at times.