Omar Nelson Bradley

America's GI General, 1893-1981 (American Military Experience)

De: Steven L. Ossad

Narrado por: Bill Nevitt

Omar Nelson Bradley was the youngest and last of nine men to earn five-star rank and the only army officer so honored after World War II. This new biography by Steven L. Ossad gives an account of Bradley’s formative years, his decorated career, and his postwar life.

Bradley’s decisions shaped the five Northwest European Campaigns from the D-Day landings to VE Day. As the man who successfully led more Americans in battle than any other in our history, his long-term importance would seem assured.

Bradley’s postwar career as administrator of the original GI Bill and first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Korean War ensures his legacy. These latter contributions, as much as Bradley’s demonstrable World War II leadership, shaped US history and culture in decisive, dramatic, and previously unexamined ways.

The book is published by University of Missouri Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

Winner of the Society for Military History's 2018 Distinguished Book Award for Biography.

“Superbly researched and well-written.” (Jonathan W. Jordan, author of American Warlords)

“A marvelously illuminating portrait of the last of the great World War II figures to have a full biography. It has been worth the wait!” (Carlo D'Este, author of Patton: A Genius For War)

©2017 The Curators of the University of Missouri (P)2019 Redwood Audiobooks

Omar Bradley, unsung hero

very good, and pace was spot on
until the end where it seemed rushed or the material is that thin. I would have expected harder treatment of his generalship during the Battle of the Bulge. Early career treatment very enlightening. well done.

Personality and Politics

What I found most fascinating about this book was the way it begins by building a theory about General Bradley's "blind spots". The theory is that an episode at a baseball game at West Point helps explain Bradley's actions later in life, when he was a General and did not anticipate how his perceptions may have been wrong. Nevertheless, the book opened my eyes to the blind spots, foibles and characters of other Generals, some well-known and some not - and gave a great deal of food-for-thought about how character flaws often are the "secret sauce" of their successes. They are simply unable to get despondent about their mistakes, because they can't admit them (at least to others) - and this makes them resilient in the face of withering defeat. They are able to see the flaws of others, but seem unable to admit their own. It's provoked in me a return to the question of whether history makes the man, or man makes history. As my first biography of a General of WWII, and my first in depth leap into the history of that war, I learned quite a lot about both the general, and the war that will lead me to delve deeper. It was fascinating to have a fly-on-the-wall viewpoint of the personalities and strategies that influenced the victory of Allied forces as it was happening, in the upper echelons of the army, and that perspective rounded out what we learn from films and documentaries about the foot soldiers and how the battles felt. The book is primarily about the General, not the father, husband, son or student, but you will get some of that as well. I received this book at no cost on condition that I read it and provide a review. I recommend this book to all who are interested in WWII, and the formation of one of America's greatest military logistics minds.

Good biography of an important WWII general

Omar Bradley was one of the American generals of World War II in Europe. He was, quite literally, born in a cabin his father built with his own hands. His family was rather poor for most of his childhood--there were a few years of relative prosperity when his father was a newspaper editor, ended when he died.

But when he decided to try, with little expectation of success, to seek an appointment to West Point, he became his congressman's backup appointment. And then the other, primary choice didn't pass the relatively new West Point exams,and Bradley did. He entered West Point with the class of 1915. It was an iconic origin for a man who became an important World War II general, though being a quiet, relatively shy man, with a dislike for newspaper attention, he didn't get as much press as his classmates and colleagues--who of course included Dwight Eisenhower and George Patton, among other well-known World War II names.

After the war, he got an assignment he at first found very disappointing--being the new head of the Veterans' Administration, in need of drastic overhaul to cope with both the great number of new veterans, and the greatly expanded veterans' benefits created by the GI Bill. Before his retirement, he became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a five-star general.

This is a long, in-depth, and thoughtful biography of an important general. I think Ossad greatly admires his subject, but he's not reluctant to talk about his faults as well as his strengths--or about the strengths as well as the faults of his rivals among the contentious ranks of the Allied generals of the Second World War. Bradley's faults included an unwillingness to admit to mistakes, including completely misjudging the strength of German opposition at the start of what became the Battle of the Bulge.

It's an interesting book from which I learned a lot, about Bradley and about the war, and about the reorganization and growth of the VA after the war.

The narrator, Bill Nevitt, is also excellent, clear, calm, and expressive.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the narrator, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

Disappointing

In the early 70's, having just returned from my 2nd tour in Vietnam and discharged from the Navy, I took a hotel job in San Diego before returning to college. A political fund raising event at the hotel drew many celebrities including General Bradley and his wife. In his formal white mess dress, standing straighter and taller than any human I had ever seen before, the General left an impression on me which, along with the facts of his military career, turned him into one of my American heroes. Now, in 2023, the image of that upright fellow is still with me and encourages me to stand tall.

Listening to this book reminded me of the time, at age 9, my parents told me there was no Santa Claus. That sad disclosure was perhaps a few years later than it should have been, true, but having formed in my early years a very positive opinion of the good works of St. Nick, supported perfectly by Mrs. Claus and all serving an adoring and grateful world, it was crushing to hear he was in any way . . . a fiction. The author here told me more of Bradley's foibles and medical maladies than he did his first wife or his affections for family and friends, and every grand story about the General was accompanied by some criticism, some scab, crabbiness, weakness, and character flaw. There were no Bradley letters, no personal expressions to let me judge the man as I can Lincoln or Grant or any modern blogger. Bradley's speeches were summarized and criticized but never offered up for public inspection. I felt cheated by that just I felt cheated at Christmas 1956.

If you have any good feelings for Omar Bradley, the last of the WWII 5 Stars, don't buy this book. Oh, by the way, if I never hear "Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force" again in my life, that's OK. The author and reader wrote/said the phrase on every page. Good grief!!!

Great information, narrated strangely.

I enjoyed the information and historical knowledge, but the narrator distracted me with bad accents and weird inflections. I don't know why he felt the need to imitate general Bradley, Patton, Eisenhower, Montgomery, and even some of the German and Russian generals. It was very distracting to hear a horrible English accent when using the word "quote" would have been so much easier and given the same information. Also, the Bradley imitation was pretty bad, and made him sound like a dork.

He also had strange inflections and put emphasis on words in weird ways. It was just distracting and bothered me, because it was totally unnecessary.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it. Like I said, the information was great, and I really learned a lot. I think it should just be read as a biography, not a fictional drama.