12/3/22

Though this book has a legend that it was ghosted by Liebling, I do think he acted as a reporter, not an editor. Omar Bradley was a superior soldier and rightly assumed the place as the overall commander of the US army in Northwest Europe for the Americans. I really enjoyed the book as a clear account of the campaign, well shorn of special pleadings found in farrago, and other Patton apologists. This is the core book for students of this campaign. ( )

The personal story of the World War 2 career of General Omar Bradley. It starts with North Africa and continues through the end of the war in Germany. This is from Bradley's personal notes and memories and is very high level, not a detailed historical account of the war, but it is from the perspective of the man in command of an entire army group. A fascinating take on events, particularly his view of Battle of the Bulge and the end of the war. ( )

In writing this book, the author began his research into General Omar Bradley's private life by searching e-Bay and Google for any unpublished manuscripts relating to the General. He came across an advertised book entitled "Horses Make Strange Bedfellows", which turned out to have been not a book, but merely an outline written by a Hollywood writer named Kitty Buhler, ultimately revealing a heretofore unknown fact that "Kitty" was Bradley's mistress during WWII in Europe. The writer points out that this
secret has been kept until the year 2015. This manuscript was then procured directly from the estate of Kitty Buhler. Bradley was one of only nine American generals ever to have obtained a five-star ranking. Upon his wife's later death, years later, Bradley married Kitty Buhler, a famed Hollywood writer. The main part of the author's book treats of the thirty year period (1951-1981) which had been largely ignored by previous authors. The author in this book aims to present the personal side of Genersl Bradley during these previously ignored years.

Many memoirs contain a degree of self-promotion. General Bradley's is a refreshing change from that. Military history is a notoriously imprecise field, with arguments and opinions changing and still being debated over a long period of time. However, one fact which many still believe is that Bradley is the comparatively calm 'voice of reason' of the Allied senior commanders in the European theaters, playing off the more tempramental personalities of Patton and Montgomery.

Bradley's memoirs are a thorough, detailed look at military operations, with a good slew of anecdotes thrown in. The maps are very useful for understanding the nature of the operations. Recommended for WW2 buffs. ( )