George S. Patton

George S. Patton was a United States Army general known for aggressive armoured warfare during the Second World War. He commanded American forces in North Africa and Sicily before taking charge of the Third Army in France after the Normandy landings.

Patton’s forces advanced rapidly across France, relieved Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and entered Germany and Czechoslovakia in 1945. His battlefield success was accompanied by repeated controversies over discipline, public statements and his treatment of soldiers suffering combat stress.

In Jeff Shaara’s No Less Than Victory, in December 1944, Germany launches a surprise offensive through the Ardennes, creating a dangerous break in the Allied line. Dwight D. Eisenhower attempts to control the crisis while George S. Patton turns his army north towards Bastogne. On the German side, Gerd von Rundstedt understands the weakness of an operation driven by Hitler’s political hopes rather than the resources available to carry it out. In Jeff Shaara’s The Rising Tide, in 1942, the United States enters the ground war against Germany through the difficult campaigns in North Africa. Dwight D. Eisenhower must coordinate American, British and French forces, while George S. Patton attempts to turn inexperienced troops into an effective army and Erwin Rommel struggles to sustain the Axis position across long and vulnerable supply lines. Further fictional perspectives on George S. Patton can be found in Jeff Shaara’s The Steel Wave. For broader historical treatment of George S. Patton, see Robert Harvey’s Mavericks, Sir Max Hastings’ Plunder, and Saul David’s Tunisgrad.