General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman

by Ed Cray

Overview

As the U.S. Army's Chief of staff through World War II, George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959) organized the military mobilization of unprecedented number of Americans and shaped the Allied strategy that defeated first Nazi Germany, then Imperial Japan. As President Truman's Secretary of State, and later as his Secretary of Defense during the Korean War, Marshall the statesman created the European Recovery Act (known as the Marshall Plan) and made possible the Berlin Airlift. Ed Cray in this masterful biography brings us face-to-face with a genuine American hero and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493049004
Publisher:	Globe Pequot Publishing
Publication date:	02/24/2020
Pages:	864
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 2.00(d)

About the Author

Ed Cray is the author of Chief Justice: A Biography of Earl Warren and Chrome Colossus: General Motors and Its Time, among other works. He lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Introduction: A Place in History 3

Part I The Soldier

I A Very Simple Life 17

II The Long Years 31

III Remarkably Gallant Fellows 49

IV The Steamroller 64

V The Company of Generals 84

VI A Very Slow Thing to Improve 96

VII The Make 112

VIII The Last Lessons 126

Part II The Chief of Staff

IX The Island Alone 143

X The Most Businesslike Manner 164

XI The Common Law Alliance 181

XIII The Summer's Storms 197

XIII Oranges, Purples, and Rainbows 218

XIV The Throw of the Die 236

XV The Sword Drawn 259

XVI The Pacific Deeps 277

XVII Modicum's Success 304

XVIII Lighting the Torch 320

XIX A Pile of Brickbats 337

XX The Wife's Legacy 354

Part III The Victor

XXI A Very Vicious War 373

XXII The Great Prize 385

XXIII Threshers 402

XXIV A Rainbow Discerned 418

XXV Losses 438

XXVI A Lesson in Geometry 451

XXVII End Game 468

XXVIII The Winterkill 482

XXIX The Argonauts 497

XXX The Battle Day Past 516

XXXI A Second Coming in Wrath 533

Part IV The Statesman

XXXII The Chinese Midwife 553

XXXIII The Tiger of Peace 569

XXXIV Going to the Yar 586

XXXV A Fair Prospect of Success 607

XXXVI The Crowded Days 627

XXXVII Playing with Fire 644

XXXVIII Active Duty 667

XXXIX Positions Reversed 679

XL Imperator 691

XLI The Shatter of Icons 706

XLII Sunset 726

Notes 737

Bibliography 807

Index 823

Photographs appear following page 284

Editorial Reviews

The comprehensive, masterful biography that Marshall deserves....Cray gives us insight into the private man as well as an understanding of his crucial role in an extraordinary period in world history.

Playboy - Digby Diehl

All the big men of the age—Ike, Roosevelt, Churchill, Truman, Stalin, Patton, Bradley—thought George C. Marshall was the greatest man they ever met. In this warm, sympathetic, and insightful biography, Ed Cray shows why.

Stephen E. Ambrose

Impressively researched, delightfully written, and judiciously argued, General of the Army is the best one-volume life of Marshall to date. It deserves to be read by anyone interested in recent American history.

Robert Dallek

Cray's biography ...tells you everything you want to know about Marshall....[It] will serve as the standard 'popular' biography and reference.

Chicago Sun-Times - Clay Blair

General of the Army enhances our ability to perceive both the man and his monumental reputation....Cray's biography commends itself not least because he does not paper over Marshall's errors.

The New York Times Book Review - Russell F. Weigley