Volume 3, Number 10 · December 31, 1964
The Ordeal of George Patton
By John Phillips
Patton: Ordeal and Triumph
by Ladislas Farago
Obolensky, 832 pp., $9.95
Ladislas Farago, a journalist of indefatigable style, has made the first attempt at a definitive biography of General George S. Patton, Jr., who was an extraordinary man. Mr. Farago confesses, 'where professional historians…feared to tread, I am walking rather boldly.' He has transcended his humility with this labor of twelve years. Its bibliography of both Patton's own writings and to now untapped primary sources is eclectic and impressive. The 'source supreme' is an official of the New York City school system who, as if to prepare for the nervewracking job he holds, served in World War II as Patton's confidential secretary. The variety of informants to this biography (parents of the martyred GIs of the 'Slapping Incidents,' the Virginia foxhunting set of Major Patton's social tour at Fort Myer, Allen Dulles, Waffen SS officers, Elsenhower's G-2 chief, Von Rundstedt's Chief of Staff, Rommel through his papers) is overwhelming.
Review, 2305 words
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