I grabbed this off my "Been meaning to read this for awhile", book pile a few days ago. Bolger is a retired Lt. General, and technically knows his stuff when it comes to armored warfare. The book is rather dryly written, however, and large sections of it read just like a recitation of unit journals and daily reports. The premise is good enough, the story of the US 3rd Armored Division under the head of Lt. General Maurice Rose, the top ranking general killed in action in WW2. Rose was Jewish, and although Bolger alludes to how Rose felt about fighting against Germany as the Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities became known, Rose unfortunately left very little personal material to work with. Instead Bolger just keeps telling us repeatedly, "What must Rose have thought".
Where the book does shine is in detailing the failures in the early days of the Normandy invasion, the great breakout, and the ripping advances in Germany in the Spring of 1945. He explains at great detail the desire of US forces to combine armor, infantry, artillery, and air power. He also richly details the interactions among the top generals, and seems particularly inclined to criticize men like Montgomery and Courtney Hodges. There is some good stuff that crosses from an earlier Lucas80 book review, Spearhead, by Adam Makos, which details the combat experiences of a US tanker named Clarence Smoyer who was in the 3rd, and eventually moved from a Sherman to a Pershing tank. Bolger details the late arrival of the Pershing in great detail.
Where the book does shine is in detailing the failures in the early days of the Normandy invasion, the great breakout, and the ripping advances in Germany in the Spring of 1945. He explains at great detail the desire of US forces to combine armor, infantry, artillery, and air power. He also richly details the interactions among the top generals, and seems particularly inclined to criticize men like Montgomery and Courtney Hodges. There is some good stuff that crosses from an earlier Lucas80 book review, Spearhead, by Adam Makos, which details the combat experiences of a US tanker named Clarence Smoyer who was in the 3rd, and eventually moved from a Sherman to a Pershing tank. Bolger details the late arrival of the Pershing in great detail.
