John A. English

A decent read. My initial interest in the books was to read about General William Simpson (9th Army Commander) during WWII. Not many biographical materials out there on him. But as I started reading, the book actually provided a lot of information that I would not have found otherwise in other books. The opening chapter section gave a decent review of the functional differences between an Army Group, Field Army, Corps and Division in terms of command structure, logistics, mobility and various other areas. Stuff I had not realized previously. Any historical discussion of the various field army commanders on the Western Front during WWII tends to devote attention to Patton. This book tells about his command counter-parts (American, Canadian, British and French) at Field Army command level. I suspect with any other resources you would have to read about a half dozen other books to get the equivalent content captured by the author here.… (mer)

A very readable and commendable collective biography on the allied army commanders in NW Europe 1944-45 - Except Patton! These commanders has generally been left obscure by history, so insight into their personallities were duly needed. I especially liked the chapters on Dempsey (who strangly was left out in Keegans otherwise excellent Churchill's Generals) and Patch, and I found that English treats his subjects fairly pointing out both weak and strong sides of the generals. Though not an army commander I think that Jacob L. Devers should have been included as he too has been overshadowed - hopefully there will be a biography on him soon.… (mer)