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Crusade in Europe
by Dwight D Eisenhower
Product Group: Book
Publisher: DoubleDay (1949)
ISBN: B0007G4D0K
Unknown Binding: 559 pages
SKU: 23316
Condition: Like New
Comments: THE HARDBACK BOOK! THE UNABRIDGED 1ST EDITION. WITH GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS! HARDCOVER W/GILT LETTERING and pages are in FINE CONDITION, clean and tight. Ships immediately w/FREE tracking, Overseas by AIR MAIL.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower was arguably the single most important military figure of World War II. For many historians, his memoirs of this eventful period of U.S. history have become the single most important record of the war. Crusade in Europe tells the complete story of the war as Eisenhower planned and lived it. Through his eyes, the enormous scope and drama of the war -- strategy, battles, moments of fateful decision -- become fully illuminated in all their fateful glory. Yet this is also a warm and richly human account. Ike recalls the long months of waiting, planning, and working toward victory in Europe. His personal record of the tense first hours after he had issued the order to attack -- and there was no turning back -- leaves no doubt of Eisenhower's travail and reveals this great man in ways that no biographer has ever surpassed.
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Customer Reviews
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Eisenheimer
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-11-08
1 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
For a "general" that never saw combat, this guy sure gets the lions share for "winning" the war in the ETO. I think he was too busy philandering and sucking up to his fellow politicians to direct the war in a competent manner. Patton, Terrible Terry Allen, the grunt at the front, those were the guys, the ones who actually got shot at, that won the war. Eisenhower was, as MacArthur said, a "great clerk".
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War memoir of a radical and heretic
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-11-01
I grew up believing in a caricature of President Eisenhower as the emblem of conservative Republicanism. That caricature may or may not have been true, but the last chapter of Eisenhower's "Crusade in Europe" is a far cry from the conservatism of today.
In it, Eisenhower notes that applying Allied battlefield concepts of unity of purpose and execution to the United Nations would result in a form of federated world government. Recognizing that this was unacceptable to the Allies, he seems to regretfully note that the next best thing was mutual understanding and cooperation for the common good in the administration of Berlin. Throughout this final chapter, titled "Russia," Eisenhower discusses international cooperation and coexistence with communism in the words of a statesman steeped in wisdom, experience, and foresight.
No sharper contrast could be drawn with Eisenhower's world view, one in which adversaries competed and cooperated in a sphere of mutual respect, than with the Republican orthodoxy of 2008. This book reveals Eisenhower's great contempt for war as a political means, and there is only one point in more than 500 pages where he expresses "glee" at winning a battle. The strong tinge of liberal idealism that streaks many pages of this book make Eisenhower's appointment of Earl Warren to the Supreme Court and his defense of desegregation by calling out the National Guard much more understandable.
The next to last chapter, "Operation Study," is an extraordinary summation of Eisenhower's appreciation for combat trauma and caring for the individual soldier. His understanding of PTSD when it was still called "nerves," "shell shock," and "cowardice" reveals a commander who truly believed that battlefield success depended on constant attention to the mental health of the soldier. Eisenhower's treatment of Patton's "slapping incident" lays the groundwork early on for this prescient and insightful chapter. Throughout the book Eisenhower remarks on his interaction with the troops, and his understanding of morale is 21st Century in its emphasis on positive psychology rather than terror and the discipline of fear.
Unfortunately for the reader, President Eisenhower was a logistical writer, stolidly building sentences with workmanlike, effective, and predictable ideas. This makes for a kind of infantry slog across a soggy beachhead of text, but the path that's laid out never breaks down and takes you to a very satisfying end.
While failing to draw attention to himself as he methodically recognizes all those upon whom he depended, he nevertheless leaves the reader with the image of a logistical, organizational, and diplomatic genius, a leader who worked tirelessly to build consensus but who could ram through his own conclusion when the situation required it.
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The war memoir of an honest, humble but brilliant administrator
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-10-14
This memoir is a must-read for anyone interested in the ETO. It elucidates Ike's thought process that went into planning Allied operations and demonstrates just how delicately all the personality and diplomatic issues had to be handled, such as the French government in North Africa, the unpredictable but indispensable Patton, and the British allies.
Unlike other high ranking generals' memoirs, Ike does little here to glorify himself. He candidly admits that the only time during the war that he donned his steel helmet was in February, 1945, when a German jet fighter appeared overhead. He also modestly blames himself for early setbacks in North Africa, when he pushed too quickly for the capture of Tunis, and he states that the decision to leave only four divisions along the Ardennes front was his alone.
There are many memorable anecdotes, not the least of which is Marshal Zhukov's explanation of Red Army tactics in dealing with minefields.
The only real disingenuous episode I found was Ike's refusal to meet with Von Armin after the Germans' surrender in North Africa. He says that the war was too personal for him to honor the old tradition of the defeated general calling on the victorious general. One must believe that Patton would have leapt at the chance to meet with his vanquished counterpart. Ike also says that Rommel left North Africa before the surrender to "save his own skin," when Rommel left the same way Macarthur, Ike's old boss, left the Philippines.
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Nothing about Ultra and early computers
Rating (3)
Date: 2008-08-01
0 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
I read this regular book, here in Brazil.This book was writen by american, general and later president Dwight Eisenhower.This book is at least regular, for today's standards, because it doesn't talks nothing, about some things linked to World War II:
1-Has nothing about the computers that broked the Enigma code machine.Yes, ultra was classified, but we aren't in 1948.
2-The terrible treatment to german POWs by Eisenhower's men, has no place in this book.Also this book has nothing about terrible famine imposed in Germany by USA,England,etc.
3-The giving of hundreds of thousands of german POWs to Soviet Union, for slave labor has no place in this book.
4-The failures of americans also, has no place in this book.
Even so, this book remains at least regular, 60 years after to be published.
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A great Leader
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-01-21
A very exciting tale of how America came to help Europe winning the world war II, starting from very limited armed forces in 1940 (something not so much known), then becoming the giant which destroyed the Nazi armies.
This is really a book of reference, together with W.Churchill memories where we see most great actors grow up and act: Patton, Bradley, Montgomery, etc...
The successive battles and the problematics (for example logistical problems) are described very well, many maps help to understand - Thank you Ike !
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