Besides working as a "tour d'horizon" of the conduct of the American ground war in World War II, one receives a good sense of just how the U.S. soldiers who held the higher command positions in World War II received those positions and, on occasion, lost them. Beyond professional achievement, much of this boiled down to a man's relationship with George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower or Douglas MacArthur. This is the only thing that explains the survival of Courtney Hodges as the commander of the U.S. 1st Army in the ETO, as the evidence seems clear that he should have been withdrawn after the Huertgen Woods campaign (if for no other reason but ill-health) but his friendships with Marshall, Eisenhower and Omar Bradley kept the man in the saddle. Besides that Taaffe also deals with the now unheralded influence of Lesley McNair who, for all his genius in creating the combat structure of the U.S. Army's ground forces, seemed to over-esteem organizational ability over character and force of will, and whose recommendations for operational command (such as Lloyd Fredendall and John Lucas) are justly regarded as failures. It's the collection of these personal relationships, for good or ill, that make this book valuable.

If there is a particular revelation for me in this book it is that of the career of Jacob Devers, who eventually parleyed a staff slot in the backwater of Italy into command of the U.S. 6th Army Group; much to the annoyance of Eisenhower, Bradley and Patton. Besides demonstrating a certain mastery of bureaucratic politics, Devers' fine performance also brings into question just how essential some of the standard heroes of the U.S. war effort in ETO were; as they say, the graveyards are filled with indispensable men.

I have very little to mark this book down for, but two points come to mind. One is that it's not clear Taaffe really appreciates the concept of operational warfare, or at least he doesn't explicitly makes judgements of achievement on that basis. Two, Taaffe also doesn't spend much time talking about what a limited base that the U.S. Army had to draw from in terms of its field commanders, which would be part of the explanation of why some individuals who deserved relief, if only for health reasons, were allowed to remain in combat positions. Then again, Taaffe does remind readers of why this was less of a concern than it might be, as the U.S. Army was not depending on individual virtuosity on the field of battle to win the war. ( )

I read, "Marshall and His Generals" as a compliment to my other military biographies I own. It was an interesting read.

Each section of the book started with an overview of each of the major campaigns and theatres of operations of the war, then focused on the perspective of performance of and relationships between senior general (corps commanders and above) in those campaigns and theatres. There were 38 senior commanding generals reviewed in this book. Some were well known names. Other less so.

Seeing how a major campaign unfolded and appreciating the roles of the senior generals in it was illuminating. While past performance and future potential were important considerations in wartime careers and promotions, the personalities of the generals themselves and those around and above them were also major factors in professional advancement.

Stephen Taffe does a respectable job putting together the book. There are 65 pages of notes or references that, to me, indicates some comprehensive research.

Other reviewers note Taffe sometimes expounds needlessly on gossipy details or personal opinions of various generals. Yes, I noted that. With the exception of a couple entries, it seemed relatively under control. I did think, however, that he spent a lot of time harping on the poor relationship between Eisenhower and Devers. Almost to a level of distraction. It is one thing to quote someone else's description of a general as a "prima dona". It is another for the author to use the descriptive term in dolling out his own judgments.

Clearly the book focuses on senior American generals. How they were promoted, past and wartime performances, strengths and weaknesses. One thing that I think the author could have improved upon is identification of general officer ranks. 99% of the descriptions of the rank of each man just read, "General... ". Not the specific general rank such as Major General, Lieutenant General or General. I think that with regular full rank identification in the book, it would have enhanced the initial introduction of the general, better illustrated rank relations between generals during the war, and when they were promoted. Just calling all the men, "General" everywhere in the book grew confusing. Maybe the regular use of rank abbreviations might have been a good alternative (i.e. BG, MG, LTG).

Less the above exceptions, overall this was an excellent book. I learned a lot about many generals. Prior to reading this book, I had perhaps only heard of various names in passing. I found it also indirectly provided some good additional understanding of the leadership, personalities and decisions of the war's primary US generals, Marshall, Eisenhower, MacArthur and Bradley.

As I read this book, I had another book available to cross reference: Webster's American Military Biographies: The Stories of 1000 Military Figures. Webster's provided more complete biography profiles of generals and details of past rank promotions and assignments. Many (but not all) generals were found in Webster's.

I look forward to additional biography reading with the leads provided in this book. ( )

Dr Taafe has produced a highly readable quick study of the US Army in WWI with thumbnail sketches and analyses of many of the US Army's general officers. The nine core chapters focus on particular campaigns taking the reader back and forth from the European and Pacific theaters. As each campaign unfolds in clear, understandable prose; the author examines the American leaders in quick, objective, analytic snapshots As usual with the Univ. Press of Kansas' series of Modern War Studies, a well done volume which I recommend. Goes well with Perrett's "There's a War to Be Won: The United States Army in World War II" and Millett & Murray's "A War To Be Won: Fighting the Second World War."

I also recommend Taafe's "MacArthur's Jungle War." Please see my review of same. ( )