In the prologue, Showalter writes, "[This book] also seeks to be reader-friendly, by eschewing the academic apparatus that so often gets in the way of the story." Leaving for a moment using the phrase "eschewing the academic apparatus" to highlight a reader-friendly nature, the narrative of this book is very good. But occasionally Showalter's writing becomes reader-unfriendly, either because of some confusion who's views are being put forward (historical figure or Showalter), or exceeding awkward turns of phrase.

I'm also not sure I was convinced of one of Showalter's main arguments, that Patton and Rommel are held in higher esteem by the military of the country they fought against then the military of their own. Showalter has undoubtedly done more research into this than I have (I have spoken to exactly 0 German generals about Patton and while I have spoken to two American Generals the subject of Rommel never came up), but because there is no deviation from the story, we are forced to take his word for it. ( )