General George S. Patton’s legendary image was carefully crafted during World War II and continues to shape our understanding of American history and culture today. Historian Nathan C. Jones explores the creation of the Patton legend and its enduring legacy in Patton’s Shadow.

• Covers Canadian Harry Crerar, Briton Miles Dempsey, Frenchman Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, and the Americans Courtney Hodges, William Simpson, and Alexander Patch • History of the campaign for northwest Europe, including the race across France, the liberation of the channel ports, the battles of the Huertgen Forest and the Bulge, crossing the Rhine, the climactic battle for Germany, and more • Corrects the historical misperception that Patton contributed more to victory than other generals • Assesses commanders' individual performances • Impressively researched in primary and secondary sources • New interpretations and an entertaining narrative will appeal to both general readers and scholars Through the force of his personality and the headline-grabbing advance of his U.S. Third Army, Gen. George S. Patton has eclipsed the other six men who, like him, led field armies in the great Allied campaign to liberate northwest Europe in 1944-45. Certain to rank among the lassics of World War II history like Eisenhower's Lieutenants by Russell Weigley, Patton's Peers presents a masterful reassessment of the eleven-month struggle from D-Day to Germany's surrender, shedding long-overdue light on the contributions of these forgotten Allied field army commanders. Seasoned military historian John A. English unearths the vital roles played by these six generals. As the leader of an army of several hundred thousand troops, each had to plan operations days and eeks in advance, coordinate air support, assess intelligence, give orders to corps commanders, manage a staff of sometimes difficult subordinates, and deal with superiors like Eisenhower, Bradley, and Montgomery. Some performed less ably than the rest while others rivaled Patton in their achievements. All deserve to be lifted from Patton's shadow.

Patton is a concise and penetrating biography of one of history's greatest yet most controversial commanders and draws the life of an atavistic warrior-leader who defined modern warfare in the twentieth century's most desperate and destructive theater of combat: World War II. George S. Patton embodied contradiction: a cavalryman steeped in romantic military tradition, he nevertheless pulled a reluctant American military into the most advanced realms of highly mobile armored warfare. An autocratic snob, Patton created unparalleled rapport and loyalty with the lowliest private in his command; an outspoken racist, he led the only racially integrated U.S. military unit in World War II; an exuberantly profane man, he prayed daily and believed God had destined him for military greatness; a profoundly insecure individual, he made his Third Army the most self-confident and consistently victorious fighting force in the European theater. From Patton's boyhood battling dyslexia and becoming an avid reader, to his leadership strategies that modernized the U.S. army, Alan Axelrod delivers a fascinating account of Patton's life and legacy.

From Christoph Ransmayr, whose brilliant rise to preeminence among the younger generation of writers in the German language was recently crowned when he shared with Salman Rushdie Europe's most prestigious new literary award, the Aristeion Prize--a novel in which fiction and history are forged into a universe of mythic intensity. World War II has ended, but only in the West. Central Europe is slipping back into its agricultural past. The bomb has not yet been dropped--nor will it be for twenty years. The Allies have punished Germany for its war crimes by forcing it to revert to a preindustrial age: power stations, railways, factories, and all the machinery of technology have been destroyed or abandoned and left to decay. Moor is a small quarry town (Mauthausen in the all-too-recent past of real history). The occupying American army has installed a camp survivor, Ambras, to govern the local population. Brave, lonely, hated and feared by his former persecutors, Ambras has returned to Moor only because his Jewish wife died there. Setting up house in a derelict villa surrounded by wild hounds that earn him the nickname the Dog King, he chooses another loner, the village boy Bering, as his bodyguard. Moving away from his family and into the compound, the boy enters a new universe of power, of half-glimpsed ideas, of contact with the forbidden world outside. And he meets the only other person Ambras welcomes, a strange and beautiful orphan girl named Lily who lives and hunts in the hills, who knows where the weapons are hidden and forages in the "free world for the goods the villagers crave. But Bering's new life begins to unravel as he succumbs to a strange eye disease known as Morbus Kitahara, in which the vision gradually darkens and which tends to afflict marksmen and sharpshooters. Only Lily can find help, can offer them all a possible future. The three make a courageous bid to escape, and the account of their flight brings the novel to its extraordinarily gripping and suspenseful climax. Searingly powerful, with a poetic intensity that stays with the reader long after the last page, The Dog King is a modern masterpiece.

A Greater Life Awaits offers the opportunity for removing the countless veils that cloud our understanding of who we are as the internal hardwiring of soul""why we do what we do and how to shift the dynamics holding us back from our personal bliss. Dakota Windancer presents through his words a kaleidoscope view in the celebration of all life and serves humankind both as guide and spiritual cheerleader. In this book, Dakota shares helpful insights for discovering and finding your personal bliss. Greater awareness and personal self-discovery are among the many nuggets obtained along that journey. Shadow expressions become the inner gold of the transformational process. This book challenges the reader to dream out loud and sail the turbulent sea of living toward the sunlight inspiration of personal bliss. The intention of this script is to motivate, inspire, and cheerlead the reader into also discovering their personal boon to give the world. "What we negotiate internally, is what we propagate externally." Dakota offers through his personal example the wisdom gained by living joyfully in the sufferings of the world while paving the pathway to a greater life that awaits! "Dakota Windancer's A Greater Life Awaits speaks to the heart of self-exploration and understanding one's inner being. He gives us a raw and true look at his own journey to self-discovery and true re-birth. He provides an absorbing account of his own struggles that many can relate to, in order to truly gain a better understanding of who we are at our core." ""Jennifer Warmka, LCSW "A Greater Life Awaits offers the reader a close up look at the author's journey towards personal and spiritual transformation. Dakota Windancer draws from the Jungian psychology of Robert Moore and Joseph Campbell, as well as Christian scripture, Native American traditions, and his own recovery journey to share a philosophy that is loving and wise. As readers, we are encouraged to become our best selves by looking within, re-examining old beliefs and learning from diverse wisdom traditions." ""Gary Moseson MSW, Retired Psychotherapist This book is more than a memoir, it captures the essence of a spirit that can transform a communication conflict that presently divides our Nation. When one person can set aside their own needs and misconceptions and then purposefully and carefully step into the life of another, miracles happen. Both lives are improved and the world is afforded a glimpse of real life grace. Your insight of the world being inspired and changed is refreshing. It resides in the virtues of faith, hope, and love. This work is a message for all of us to reach out beyond ourselves and make a positive difference in the lives of others. ""B.G. MacPhail, MA, Professor-Speech Communication, Florida SouthWestern State College, [email protected] In his unique journey of becoming, Dakota Wind Dancer has examined his own mind, heart, and spirit to arrive at his personal faith. He utilizes diverse perspectives of prior explorers of truth, the meaning of life, and the elusive psyche to describe his own mystical journey. In connection to the power of symbols and archetypes, he elucidates his own sense of self in the world. Metaphorically and literally, Dakota danced the fine line between self indulgence and naked honesty. Stepping out of his own existential crisis, admitting to his shadows of narcissism and nihilism, he survived the pit of despair, and subsequently has risen to his finest moments. As part of his desire to create space for infinite blessings, Dakota Wind Dancer offers his artistic spirituality and strategies, and thus "a greater life awaits" for those willing to take the risk of becoming their essential self. ""Kenneth Burg M.D.

The planning that allowed for the successful amphibious landings at the end of World War II actually began during the 1880s as the Marine Corps sought to define its role in the new Steel Navy. Officers braved skepticism, indifference and outright opposition to develop an amphibious warfare doctrine, with each service contributing. From the 1898 war with Spain through the disastrous 1915 Australian landing to the successful World War II assaults in the Pacific and northwest France, this chronological history explores the successes and failures pivotal to the concept of amphibious warfare through the lives and careers of fourteen officers instrumental to its development. Profiles include General George S. Patton, Jr.; Rear Admiral Walter C. Ansel, USN; Lieutenant General John A. Lejeune, USMC; Admiral William Sims, USN; and Colonel Robert W. Huntington, USMC.