Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Pershing: Commander of the Great War by John Perry


General Pershing is known by most people as a famous person they learned about in school for his great command duties in World War I, but what else do you know about him? This biography, though fairly short ( 222 pages) is quite comprehensive in covering the many aspects of his life and his career. The title of the book is Pershing: Commander of the Great War and it not only follows his career as a soldier, but also his personal life to some extent.

After reading this book I am impressed with Pershing’s way of treating people as worthwhile, even those who were not treated thus by others (Indians, black soldiers, Phillipine tribesmen, etc). A humble heart shines out at least in those instances. The author also strives (too hard almost?) to convince us of Pershing’s fun-loving, kind, loving side of his character which was apparently not in evidence much of the time (in public). He was a very accomplished man, not only disciplined and very wise in military settings, but also quick to learn and excel at other things—such as poker and dancing (which the author points out multiple times.)

This biography was fairly easy to read and I did not find it objectionable—I would allow my pre-teen children to read it as a means of learning about his life. I will say that the cover/binding made the book look unappealing, but there’s another case of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”! I did find it interesting, even though I don’t have much interest in reading about war-related topics. I would recommend this book as recreational reading to someone interested in wars/soldiers and as educational reading to someone wanting to learn more about the many phases of Pershing’s life.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.

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