Anyone who knows me (and I realize I haven't introduced myself; that'll happen soon enough) knows I have a lifelong fascination with General George S. Patton Jr. (or "GSP"), the tactical genius of the US Army in World War II. I have read almost everything published on the man and am now expanding that interest into his family. This book is written by GSP's grandson, Benjamin, who in turn is the son of Major General George S. Patton IV, GSP's son (the numbering is a bit confusing and confused but I'll gladly explain it to you ... some other time).
This gives great depth to the family saga some of us are familiar with. George Patton the son gets the lion's share of coverage -- he was, after all, the author's father. Benjamin never knew GSP, who died 20 years before his birth.
Well written by Patton and Jennifer Scruby, this is much more than a family memoir. Lovingly interspersed with anecdotes and short biographical sketches of various friends of his mother and father, there is fatherly advice enough here for a dozen Poloniuses. (Polonii?) George Patton IV deserves his own biography one day -- while not as outrageous and publicly loved/hated as his father, the latest General Patton was well-liked and respected by his soldiers and his superiors, and probably actually had more time in combat than his father did, even including his World War I service.
Recommended for fans of military biography, or for anyone curious about "that Vietnam-era Patton." Anyone interested in family dynamics would also be a potential reader, but the "military thing" admittedly puts some people off from the start.
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