Book Review: Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe

To set the stage properly, I am the author of military histories and a fan of General George Patton.  I received an email from the Jonathan Jordan, author of the book Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe.   He had read my blog and when I saw the subject matter of his book, I swore to myself I would pick it up. 

A worthwhile addition to your library

Now I have read Alan Axelrod’s Patton,  Patton: A Genius for War by Carlo D'Este, and even Patton’s own edited diary – War as I Knew It.  I dodged the book Target: Patton because I had done some digging on the material evidence and found it a little thin; the advantage of being a regular visitor to the National Archives.  None of this made me an expert on Patton, but I honestly didn’t think anyone would be able to break new ground on old Blood and Guts. 

I was wrong.   Happily wrong. 

Jordan’s Brothers, Rivals, Victors offers a very different perspective than those that have gone before him.  He masterfully weaves the story of Patton, Bradley and Eisenhower into a flowing narrative that is actually fun to read.  I was stunned at the new material in this book, not just on Patton but on all three men. 

Jordan does a fantastic job of keeping the flow of the story going, providing the right military and political context so that even if you don’t know anything about these remarkable men, you will be able to follow what is happening and why. 

Not only has he broken new ground in terms of research – his writing is some of the best I have experienced in the military history genre.  It is obvious that Jordan has a good sense of humor, some of his prose actually made me grin.  When was the last time that happened when you read a military biography? 

I will openly admit that I didn’t know much about Bradley so for me this was a treasure trove of learning. My only criticism of the book is that it seems to concentrate most heavily on Patton and Eisenhower…but in fairness that was to be expected (they had the longest friendship of the trio) and given my interest in Patton – I can’t complain. 

I have always considered Montgomery in a bad-light.  This book certainly reinforced this gut feeling on my part.  How he interacted with the team in the book was horrible at best.   

Go out and buy Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe.   I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I’m even going over the highlighted parts on my Kindle to see if I can beef up my own writing skills to get closer to what Jonathan Jordan manages to accomplish in this book.