Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe

For the reader seeking a more personal and human perspective of the role played by these three historic figures, Jordan's new book delivers a spell binding story. Their ambitions, emotions, fears, doubts and personal and profession loyalties are presented in a very readable and balanced account of this exceptional partnership that won the war in North Africa and Western Europe. The book's approach should particularly appeal to readers new to the history and details of World War II. Jordan presents the events, battles, and the myriad of other participants and personalities in a way that provides a clear and accurate backdrop for the story, but remains focused on the relationships and roles of the key figures. After reading the book, I find it remarkable that despite their foibles, pride, ambition, and insecurities they each remained true to each other, their beliefs, and their common goal. Although the events and outcomes may be well known to the reader, this is a book that you will not want to put down until you turn the final page.

This is a well written and well researched story about the lifelong friendships of three of Americas greatest Generals and their cohorts and allies from when the men first met until their final days. I have read everything I could get on Patton and Ike and I thought I knew all there was to tell about both. Wrong! This book told of so many incidents and enlightening information regarding all of the personalities that I was enthralled and couldn't put the book down at appropriated times. Be prepared to loose a lot of sleep while reading this intriguing story. After all of my readings over the years I have developed a sincere liking and interest in Ike, Patton, Churchill among others. Not so much for Bradley, Beetle Smith, and Montgomery. This book reaffirms those feelings in more detail on all of these great men with all of their brilliance and weaknesses. I do however want to read more about Hughes, Truscott, Gay, Butcher and others. This page turner of a book is sure to ignite the fires of interest in the battles of the war and the battles of the great commanders and egomaniacs of the great struggle called WWII. Be prepared to immerse yourself and to be mesmerized by one of the best stories ever told about these fascinating men. Kudos to the author!

"Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, and the Partnership That Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe" by Jonathan W. Jordan (2011) is a fascinating collective biography of the three generals that Americans most associate with Allied victory in Europe during World War II.

This book lays bare the in-fighting, back-biting, jealousies, and competition between and among men of high rank, whether American (Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton), British (Montgomery) or French (de Gaulle). Patton's foibles are well known, but less well known (at least to me) was Eisenhower's temper and Bradley's feelings of being slighted by his better-known rivals

To the narrator: it's pronounced "gunnel". Yes, I know it's spelled "gunwale", but that is not how it is pronounced.

I'm surprised Blackstone and its editors didn't catch your consistent mispronunciation of this term. Overall, the book is great and I enjoyed your reading of it (for the most part), but every once in a while, you mispronounced a military term, and that jarred me out of my listening pleasure back into a state of "did he really just say that"?

To Blackstone: the next time you decide to commit a military book to audio, please ensure your reader knows military terms and how to correctly pronounce them!

Like others who loved the book, I found Brothers Rivals Victors compelling reading and a page turner. I had thought, given the book's 500 plus pages to drown in detail, but had quite the contrary experience. I read every word of the text and dozens of the footnotes.
Perhaps my best takeaway is the discovery of the men behind the myth, that at one time these men were the best of friends, then rivals--sometimes fiercely and disparaging of the others, but by the end of their lives, reconciled in each other's qualities.

Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe is a solid piece of historiography, if largely lacking in new material. For the reader casually interested in the European Theatre of Operations in the Second World War Mr. Jordan's book rivals (no pun intended) any of previous release that covers the American contributions. In some ways Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe is a single source of three minibiographies - one for each Eisenhower, Bradley and Patton. But Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe is more than just a discussion of these men and how they rose through the ranks to represent three of the most important leaders on the Western side of the conflict; it's also a really good introduction to the major events that these men and their armies went through for the entrance of the US forces through the occupation duties. Readers more versed with WWII historiography will likely wish for more with Jordan's book since there isn't much new here. On the other hand, this is an extremely well-written and engaging book, that any readers, independent of knowledge base, should and can enjoy.

I have just finished reading "Brothers Rivals Victors" and what a marvellous read it was. I finished the book having really enjoyed the travel through history with three of America's greatest soldiers; Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George S. Patton, and General Omar N. Bradley.

The book does not provide an in-depth military account of the campaigns and battles that these three men fought during the Second World War. What the author does provide is an interesting, and at times funny account of the battles these men fought with each other, their British allies and the forces of the Axis nations. I really loved the author's style of writing, the book was easy to read and at times I didn't want to put it down and turn the light out for some much needed sleep.

The book tells the story of how Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley developed into a war winning team, although their relationships were full of jealousy, insecurity, and ambition. I liked the author's use of private diaries and letters to tell the story behind many of those famous incidents that occurred during the chequered career of Patton. I also enjoyed learning more about General Omar N. Bradley, a man that I had not read much about previously.

I think this book would interest anyone who enjoys a well written and fast paced book covering the lives of three great American soldiers. Overall a very decent account and well worth the time to pick up and read.

The soldier on the front line must perform the job assigned to them. This task, many times, does not come with any explanation. There is a hill. Take it. The enemy is in that town. Drive them out. Having read different accounts from the soldiers who fought the war, this book provides an interesting and insightful look at the men who made the decisions.

A general's perspective is different than those of the men in the trenches. The man at the top must make decisions to achieve a series of objectives, all working to achieve a specified end--victory. While the man at the bottom must do what he must to survive what's he has been called upon to do. It does not matter how difficult the mission, how insurmountable the odds, how devastating the results. The objective must be secured in a plan that is not always fully understood and is fluid and changing.

In "Brothers, Rivals, Victors" we get a sense of what it was like for powerful men to make life and death decisions in the great campaign for Europe against Hitler's Nazi Germany. The internal struggles are plainly chronicled. Jordan does a good job of bringing the reader along on the journey. We begin to understand the influences that shaped these three men. The struggles with personal insecurities, political intrigue, geopolitical realities and professional maneuvering reveal the maze and haze of trying to win a war.

The book is a necessary volume to understand "Ike", Brad, and "Old Blood and Guts" (Patton) as they worked together and, at times in spite of each other, to do what some did not think possible.

The one criticism I have is that Patton seems to black sheep of the trio. His "good" qualities are always hedged against his idiosyncrasies. I am not sure if this is a personal bias on the part of the author or if this is the general consensus of the historical record. I will have more research to do on this point.

The book reads well and it is a page turner from the start. If you are looking for a succinct book looking at the lives of these three renowned generals you will not be disappointed.

Patton, Bradley, and Eisenhower are revealed in this book as exceptional men, but men who also had significant personality "issues." The author makes extensive use of diaries, letters, and interviews to explore the relationships among the three men. The generals' various backgrounds made it inevitable that they would have conflicting personalities and have differing ideas as to how the war in Europe should be fought. However, even with all that separated them, they pulled together at critical times. The book also explores the men's relationship with the British general Montgomery, and how the very different American and British cultures and philosophies ended up costing thousands of more lives than should have been lost. Jordan's book is a must read for anyone interested in WWII, American History, or war craft in general.

This is an amazing book that adds a new dimension of insight into these three giants of US military history.

I knew about Ike and Patton's friendship from the post-WWI times on, but did not know the extent of it before reading this. I cannot help but think it affected Ike's decisions in subsequent years to keep Patton on regardless of George's antics.

Because of their differing styles, and especially Patton's showboating, it is easy to understand Bradley's problems with Patton. I did not know before this book just how deep was the resentment of Bradley towards Patton during & after the Africa and Sicily campaigns.

I never before fully realized the extent of the loathing that both Patton and Bradley had for Montgomery.

After the war, Patton's death, etc. it is interesting to note how their attitudes changed towards one another ... at least in their published memoirs.

Histories of the Second World War tend to either be hagiographies where the party can do no wrong or hatchet jobs where they did nothing right. Brothers Rivals, Victors does a great job of showing that Eisenhower, Bradley and Patton were men who were normal and who had ups and downs. Jonathan Jordan does a great job of making them seem human. This is the great person view of history and is intelligent and shows us more how different personalities combined to manage the greatest feat of American arms to date.

This is a very interesting book and I strongly recommend it!

Jordan does a magnificant job in juxtaposing the personalities of these disparate characters. Eisenhower is the glue among the three, old friend to both Bradley and Patton, who are thrust together at first in North Africa. Scrupulously sourced, this book does a masterful job in evaluating not only the personalities but the decisions made by each at critical times. It is one of the best narrative histories I have read on the World War II era. I enjoyed the book immensely and have difficulty thinking of enough superlatives to describe it.

Gary Ryman
Author of "Fire Men: Stories From Three Generations of a Firefighting Family
[...]

There are some great books about WWII. There are some great biographies of the men who fought WWII. Brothers, Rivals, Victors is a great book about relationship: the dynamic and sometime tangled relationship between three of the leading principals on the Allied side. It's history with color and depth, a history behind the scenes, told in the diaries and letters, conversations and actions.

It's also history with a dashing pace, an approachable style, and a sense of balance. There are fresh nuggets for the most hard-core history buff but context for anyone who wants a great read. Highly recommended.

Well written and interesting. I enjoyed reading it and found it instructive as well. The way that the military careers of these three men intertwined over the years, and the final result of their efforts is quite amazing. There were a few holes in the historical narrative, such as the battle of the bulge, but they were not really the topic at hand.

Having previously read Jeffrey Shaarah's WWII trilogy that covers WWII campaigns from North Africa to Germany's capitulation in Berlin from a foot soldier perspective I appreciated covering the same ground from the perspectives of these three generals. The interplay among the three kept me riveted to the book.

It is apparent that author Jordan did a fantastic job of research for this book. He gives a thorough picture of the stress and turmoil that the top commanders went through in their decision making during those trying times in the European theater during WWII. I purchased this book upon the recommendation of a friend and I am glad I did for I consider it a valuable addition to my 300 book military library.

The relationship between the three main characters: Patton Eisenhower and Bradley is an interesting topic which the author does an adequate job describing. However, with such a plethora of information, and such a vibrant cast of characters, the reader is let down by the author or editor's inability to create a well-written book which mirrors the quality of each character.

This is evident in the offers continuous use of each general's first name or nickname. For instance, the offer refers to Gen. Omar Bradley I simply Omar Brad and his second sentence when describing the general. If this were written in letters to and from each of the officers, it would be different. However are referring to Bradley and this manner, it seems as though the author is attempting to take a shortcut and is either unwilling or lazy to write the officers first and last full name. Adding to this frustration is his continuous willingness to consistently switch pronouns or proper nouns for the officers. For instance in one instance he may refer to Omar Bradley using Omar Bradley's first name while in the following sentence he may refer to Omar Bradley is Brad. From an statical point of view the writer or author or editor should have simply followed and written using each officers complete name. For instance, simply typing the name Eisenhower would have been sufficient instead of cutting corners and using his nickname "Ike, "'which might of been written in the previous sentence.

Arguably, this incongruence use of names and the continuous use it each character's first name as though the author or editor new each of the individual man on a personal basis detract from the overall story. A much better way would have been to use preferably all three officers last names and included first names and personal letters or in rare instances.

If you like a very informal style of writing, this book may be for you. By informal, though, I mean something like the following: "Ike waited on the Rock. George was invading Casa. What would Brad do?" The protagonists are Ike, George, and Brad throughout. Opinions differ, but this style sets my teeth on edge. I much prefer Carlo D'Este's books on Patton and Eisenhower, and the first two books of Rick Atkinson Liberation Trilogy.

Brothers, Rivals, Victors is a book for women too. Not just military strategies, but how the three interacted with their families, brothers at first, then the jealousy gets in. Was Hollywood right? Read it and find out. Great read.

I am just finishing this book and have enjoyed it immensely. This is a great insight into the personalities of three of our most productive generals during the Second WW. It helped fill in some voids in my understanding of the behind the scenes disputes between the highest ranking officers in the Army. Egos and personalities played a major role in the decision making process. The weaker egos were often jealous and petty towards the stronger ones. Rank didn't always predict prowess. It is a fine discussion of the dynamics at play during the bitter struggle to defeat the Nazis. The pettiness of some of the players beggars the imagination when one thinks of the battlefield costs in human blood. As Sherman said, "War is all hell." Those with a more up close and personal experience of what Sherman was talking about seem to have made better leaders in the actual pursuit of the enemy.