Stanley Hirshson

I just finished Stanley Hirshon’s General Patton: A Soldier’s Life. Up to this time I have always considered Carlo D’Estes’ Patton: A Genius For War to be the standard for George Patton biographies and while this doesn’t supplant it, it is every part its equal. A solid 4 to 5 star rating.

One of the extraordinary tactical commanders in history and certainly the finest tactical commander in 20th century U.S. History. Patton is spent a mere 13 months in combat to create this legacy, in World War I he participated in the Saint Mihiel Capaign and the Meuse-Argonne Campaign and in World War II he participated in Operation Torch and the North African Campaign, Tunisia, Sicily, the invasion of France in the Lorraine and Rhineland Campaign as well as the Ardennes and Central European Campaigns.

An anachronism who was both refined and educated as well a profane and prone to outbursts he is too complex to put in a box. A better fighter but less political than Eisenhower, a more aggressive general but less concerned with logistics than Bradley. George Patton is that rare breed who lives in a glass box that says break only in case of war.

One must decide for themselves the value of George Patton’s legacy, count me among those who see’s the flawed and complex individual who saved countless lives through his exceptional use of combined infantry and armor engagement, who helpful propel armor and combined arms forward.… (altro)

1507 The Lion of the Lord: A Biography of Brigham Young, by Stanley P. Hirshson (read 11 Mar 1979) Since my trip to Salt Lake City in July 1978 spurred my interest, I have now read this biography. Young was a pot, and this book is quite anti-Young. But the book is poorly-written, a hodge-podge, and never really tells the story as an expert biographer should. I do believe I know enough about Mormonism now, and should not have to read anything more about it. [But I subsequently did: on 9 Feb 2002 I read Mormon America: The Power and the Promise, by Richard N. Ostling and Joan K. Ostling.]… (altro)

2336 Farewell to the Bloody Shirt: Northern Republicans & the Southern Negro, 1877-1893, by Stanley P. Hirshson (read 1 Nov 1990) This is a 1962 book on the course the Republicans took toward the southern Negroes from 1877 to 1893. The book kind of reads like a worked-over thesis--heavy with not very significant footnotes. Its 1962 comment is not very perceptive--the author did not foresee how thoroughly the Voting Act of 1964 would end white supremacy as a campaign platform. I'm not sure the book was worth reading, since I did not learn much I did not already know.… (altro)

2338 Grenville M. Dodge: Soldier Politician Railroad Pioneer, by Stanley P. Hirshson (read 5 Nov 1990) The subject of this biography was born Apr 12, 1831, at Danvers, Mass., and died Jan 3, 1916, at Council Bluffs. Iowa. He served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating John M. Kasson in the Republican convention in 1866. The author also wrote Farewell to the Bloody Shirt. I enjoyed this book more than that one, even though this book is quite favorable to its subject, probably more favorable than I am used to being. Dodge was a top-ranking Iowan in the Civil War, and I believe the last Union general to die.… (altro)