Pershing A Biography [Paperback]

This persuasive biography sheds light on the nation's first modern combat commander who set the standard for today's four-star officers. Though the U.S. entered WWI with inadquate forces, in just over a year Pershing had built and hurled a one million man army against forty battle-hardened German divisions, defending the hellish Meuse-Argonne and turning the tide of the war. With focus and clarity, Lacey traces the development of Pershing from Indian fighter, to warrior against the Philippines insurgency, to victorious commander in WWI.

Jim Laceyis an analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses and a professor of conflict and global issues at Johns Hopkins University. Lacey was an embedded journalist withTimemagazine during the invasion of Iraq, where he traveled with the 101st Airborne Division. His opinion columns have been published inThe Weekly Standard,TheNational Review, andTheNew York Post. Lacey is the author ofTakedown,Fresh from the Fight,andOccupation of Iraq.General Wesley K. Clarkserved in the United States Army for thirty-four years and rose to the rank of four-star general as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. He is author ofA Time to Lead,as well as the best selling booksWaging Modern WarandWinning Modern Wars.

Lacey's contribution to the Great Generals series substantially redresses the balance in Pershing's favor by focusing on his acheivements. Booklist

Jim Lacey's very readable biography of General Pershing is an excellent reminder of his role in swiftly transforming the United States Army into a major fighting force in 1917  1918, and also of his great importance in selecting the men who would command American forces in World War Two. It is a first-rate life of a great American General who is all too often overlooked or underestimated today. Michael Korda, author of Ulysses S. Grant and Ikel£P