Pershing's Lieutenants : American Military Leadership in World War I - Robert a. Doughty

Pershing's Lieutenants

American Military Leadership in World War I

By: Robert a. Doughty (Foreword by), William H. Van Husen (Contribution by), Holt D. Theis (Contribution by)

Hardcover | 5 January 2021

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Pershing's Lieutenants details the history of the key leaders working for and with the American Expeditionary Forces Commander-in-Chief General John J. Pershing, several of whom went on to become important figures in World War II.

World War I changed the world. Four ancient dynasties collapsed in the midst of this war, entire societies were radically altered, a plethora of nations were created or given new life, and the map of the Middle East was redrawn. Beyond these cataclysmic transformations, the nature of war itself was forever changed, no longer limited to conflict on the land and sea, but also the air.

The war had a profound impact on the United States of America, which was forced to "grow" an army almost overnight. The day the United States declared war on Germany, the US Army was only the 17th largest in the world, ranking behind Portugal--the Regular Army had only 128,00 troops, backed up by the National Guard with some 182,000 troops. By the end of the war it had grown to 3,700,000, with slightly more than half that number in Europe. Until the United States did so, no country in all history had tried to deploy a 2-million-man force 3,000 miles from its own borders, a force led by American Expeditionary Forces Commander-in-Chief General John J. Pershing. This was America's first truly modern war and rising from its ranks was a new generation of leaders who would control the fate of the United States armed forces during the interwar period and into World War II.

This book reveals the history of the key leaders working for and with John J. Pershing during this tumultuous period, including George S. Patton (tank commander and future commander of the US Third Army during World War II); Douglas MacArthur (42nd Division commander and future General of the Army) and Harry S. Truman (artillery battery commander and future President of the United States). Edited by Major General David T. Zabecki (US Army, Retired) and Colonel Douglas V. Mastriano (US Army, Retired), this fascinating title comprises chapters on individual leaders from subject experts across the US, including faculty members of the US Army War College.
Industry Reviews
Even after more than a century of analysis, it is surprising how many gaps there are in our understanding of US land forces on the Western Front, so this sparkling collection of essays is especially welcome. A distinguished team of contributors deliver scholarship and controversy in a highly accessible form. Pershing's Lieutenants goes straight onto any list of key books on American military history in the Great War.
Professor Gary Sheffield co-director of the First World War Research Group

The essays in this excellent collection, written by some of the brightest stars in the military history galaxy, shed a new and exciting light on one of the least understood armies of the First World War. It is not just historians who will find them useful, though: today's soldiers, sailors and airmen, too, will learn much from the insights on leadership they offer.
Dr Jonathan Boff author of Haig's Enemy: Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany's War on the Western Front

This is a superb collection of essays by eighteen eminent scholars covering twenty-two American "lieutenants" ranging from Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett to Major Harry S. Truman. From honing technical skills to alliance building, the "lieutenants" struggled to master a deadly battlefield. The writing is crisp, the analysis critical, and the tone compassionate. The book is a welcome complement to Douglas Southall Freeman's Lee's Lieutenants, Steven Woodworth's Grant's Lieutenants, and Russell Weigley's Eisenhower's Lieutenants.
Holger H. Herwig Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary

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