Miniature Wargames
"I reckon this biography should be required reading for serving officers: the style is thoroughly engaging, and the lessons are timeless and of relevance to all aspects of leadership. This is probably the finest biography I've reviewed."
Campaigning: The Journal of the Joint Forces Staff College
"Guardia’s book belongs on the bookshelf of leaders throughout the joint force."
Military Writers Society of America
"...allows the reader to see into both the military man and the circumstances which helped create him."
Spring/Summer 2019 Parameters
"An easy and engaging read heavily laced with extracts from General Starry’s personal papers, this book provides a combination of biography and history. Of greatest interest to professional soldiers are Starry’s observations on the art of linking operational design with technology, doctrine, and training."
Naval Historical Foundation
"Guardia’s book belongs on the bookshelf of leaders throughout the joint force."
ARMOR
Mike Guardia’s biography on GEN Donn A. Starry is a must-read for professional soldiers. Crusader is the story of the Army’s most important change agent of the last half of the 20th Century. Guardia’s skillful prose lends context to Starry’s writings, oral histories and development as a leader… Mike Guardia through his portrayal of Starry’s life and times teaches that future victories emanate from the vision, courage and commitment of leaders who do in peacetime the heavy lifting of organizing, equipping and training an army.
New York Journal of Books
This short and fast-paced book highlights the career of a remarkable officer and soldier’s soldier, from the post-World War II occupation of Germany, to his tours in Vietnam, to his efforts to restructure the Army to defend Western Europe in the 1980s.
