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A classic of World War II literature, an incredibly revealing work that provides a near comprehensive account of the war and brings to life the legendary general and eventual president of the United States. Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower was arguably the single most important military figure of World War II. Crusade in Europe tells the complete story of the war as he planned and executed it. Through Eisenhower's eyes the enormous scope and drama of the war--strategy, battles, moments of great decision--become fully illuminated in all their fateful glory. Penned before his Presidency, this account is deeply human and helped propel him to the highest office. His personal record of the tense first hours after he had issued the order to attack leaves no doubt of his travails and reveals how this great leader handled the ultimate pressure. For historians, his memoir of this world historic period has become an indispensable record of the war and timeless classic.… (more)
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(8/10)
This is an excellent book, and very much worth your time. Some have found Eisenhower’s writing style dry, but I found it straightforward and practical, even as it is also more businesslike than personable. At some points he does assume the reader has an understanding of things that, given the passage of over 70 years, you may not be familiar with. So if you’re like me you’ll find yourself googling to find out more about people, war equipment, or locations that he discusses. I recommend you do this if you read the book - I found that giving myself this added context really helped me understand more of what Ike had to say.
Eisenhower’s purpose in writing the book seems to be to leave the reader with a better understanding of what it took him to be successful, and what future leaders called to similar tasks may want to learn from his experience. He goes into some detail to explain why certain decisions were made, what support he had (both military and political) that helped him keep the Allied forces focused on the overall strategy, how methodical the planning was, how things changed on the ground but yet the overall goals were never lost sight of (despite disagreement at times among his staff and from his civilian Allied bosses). You’ll also get a full accounting of the progress of the war in North Africa and Europe complete with over 40 maps showing key battles and Allied advances, and you'll get some flavor for the personalities around Eisenhower in Allied leadership.
Most of all, you'll get a really good sense of Eisenhower and who he was as a leader from reading this book. I was impressed with his focus on his soldiers - his desire to understand the experience of the soldiers on the front line, his need to gather their input, and the importance he placed on morale and transparent communication (to the extent possible in war) up and down the hierarchy. There are many passages where Eisenhower speaks on leadership that are really good, but these passages are so much a part of his overall narrative of events that I found myself having to pause and reflect every once and awhile to let them sink in.
This book was published in 1948, three years after the end of World War II. The edition I read was put out in 1952. It has Appendices that list the different Army Groups and Divisions of the final offensive. It also has the maps I mentioned above sprinkled throughout the text. But, at the very end of the book is note admitting that it’s missing the footnotes of the original Doubleday edition! So I don’t know how much context I missed by not having those footnotes, but this strikes me as the kind of book where they would have been beneficial. Regardless I found this a very worthwhile read. If you have an interest in World War II, and in Ike’s take on leadership by all means read it.