Volume 2 of historian Kevin Hymel’s Patton’s War trilogy has officially been released!
Patton’s War: An American General’s Combat Leadership, Volume 2: August–December 1944 picks up where the first one left off, examining General George S. Patton’s leadership of the U.S. Third Army. The book follows Patton’s contributions to both the Normandy and Brittany campaigns—the closing of the Falaise Pocket in Normandy, and racing to the port cities in Brittany. It ends with Patton and his corps rescuing the besieged town of Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge.
As he did in the preceding volume, Hymel relies not only on Patton’s diaries and letters, but countless veteran interviews, surveys, and memoirs. He also provides a unique insight missed by previous Patton scholars. Instead of using Patton’s transcribed diaries, which were heavily edited and embellished, he consults Patton’s original, hand-written diaries to uncover previously unknown information about the general.
This second volume of Hymel’s groundbreaking work shows Patton at the height of his generalship, successfully leading his army without the mistakes and caustic behavior that almost got him sent home earlier—even if we also see a Patton still guided at times by racism and antisemitism.
Purchase Patton’s War, Volume 2
Kevin’s book is now available on University Missouri Press and Amazon. Based on reviews, you’ll want to buy your copy now!
“In the second volume of his trilogy Patton’s War, acclaimed historian Kevin M. Hymel combines groundbreaking scholarship with a storytelling verve, revealing that even after eight decades there is much to learn about one of America’s most famous commanders.” —James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Black Snow and Rampage
“Kevin Hymel proves once again that he is the best Patton historian in the business. Rightfully focusing on the all-important ground combat and eschewing postwar mythology, Patton’s War is everything military history should be: objective, authoritative, and compelling—a damn fine page-turner.”—Paul Woodadge, WW2TV host, author, and Normandy Battlefield guide
“The volume of work on Patton is so extensive that one might presume it a difficult task to add something meaningful to all that has been done to date. Yet Kevin Hymel has managed to do just that.”—Don M. Fox, official historian for the U.S. Army, author of Final Battles of Patton’s Vanguard
Purchase Patton’s War at the University Missouri Press >
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Travel with Kevin on the In Patton’s Footsteps Tour
Our In Patton’s Footsteps Tour is an exceptional opportunity to travel with one of the foremost experts on The Maverick General, Kevin Hymel. You will explore the sites and battlefields significant to Patton’s Third Army, including Normandy, Brittany, Mont-St-Michel, the battlegrounds of Falaise Pocket, the German border, and the Battle of the Bulge, to understand how Patton helped win the war in Europe.
