In 1944, U.S. General George S. Patton was champing at the bit to lead the Allied D-Day invasion of German-occupied France. Instead, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Dwight D. Eisenhower, put Patton in charge of a decoy unit, the First U.S. Army Group. It would be almost seven weeks before Patton, known for his unruly demeanor and tendency toward vulgar speeches, got his chance to take the Third Army into battle.
When he did, he took the unit on a ten-month rampage across France, through Germany, and into Nazi-controlled Czechoslovakia and Austria. Along the way, his Third Army entered the Battle of the Bulge, breaking the Siege of Bastogne. It was a turning point in the war; afterward the Third Army pushed eastward again. Contributing to its success was its innovative "armored warfare" fighting style, which avoided entrenched infantry warfare by continuously pushing forward. In Patton's Third Army in World War II, military researcher and photographer Michael Green teams with retired U.S. Army officer James D. Brown to give an illustrated overview of the Third Army under Patton.
Green and Brown combine historical quotes and gripping narrative with fascinating photography to present a portrait of Patton and his men unmatched by any other nonfiction publication -- a portrayal hailed by the Patton Museum Foundation as "a must-have for your enjoyment and collection."
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