The Tragedy of Patton: A Soldier's Date With Destiny: Could World War II's Greatest General Have Stopped the Cold War?

by Robert Orlando

"Better to fight for something than live for nothing." — General George S. Patton It is 75 years since the end of WW II and the strange, mysterious death of General George S. Patton, but as in life, Patton sets off a storm of controversy. The Tragedy of A Soldier's Date With Destiny asks the Why was General Patton silenced during his service in World War II? Prevented from receiving needed supplies that would have ended the war nine months earlier, freed the death camps, prevented Russian invasion of the Eastern Bloc, and Stalin's murderous rampage. Why was he fired as General of the Third Army and relegated to a governorship of post-war Bavaria? Who were his enemies? Was he a threat to Eisenhower, Montgomery, and Bradley? And is it possible as some say that the General's freakish collision with an Army truck, on the day before his departure for US, was not really an accident? Or was Patton not only dismissed by his peers, but the victim of an assassin's bullet at their behest? Was his personal silence necessary? General George S. Patton was America's antihero of the Second World War. Robert Orlando explores whether a man of such a flawed character could have been right about his claim that because the Allied troops, some within 200 miles of Berlin, or just outside Prague, were held back from capturing the capitals to let Soviet troops move in, the Cold War was inevitable. Patton said it loudly and often enough that he was relieved of command and silenced. Patton had vowed to “take the gag off” after the war and tell the intimate truth and inner workings about controversial decisions and questionable politics that had cost the lives of his men. Was General Patton volatile, bombastic, self-absorbed, reckless? Yes, but he was also politically astute and a brilliant military strategist who delivered badly needed wins. Questions still abound about Patton’s rise and fall. The Tragedy of Patton seeks to answer them.

191 pages, Hardcover

Published December 1, 2020

Reviews

[Christopher Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subtitle: A Soldier’s Date With Destiny

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve been a George Patton fan boy ever since seeing the Academy Award-winning movie Patton in the early 1970s. I even included him as a character in my time travel novel. When I saw this title available through Net Galley, I couldn’t resist putting in a request for it.


The Tragedy of Patton appears to have used Patton as an outline. The book offers in depth background and analysis relating to incidents and battles from the book, in addition to some additional biographical detail. It takes deep dives into possible reasons why Allied leadership kept Patton on a short leash (besides the public relations problems he caused by being so outspoken). The author reached the conclusion that Generals Eisenhower and Bradley were concerned about potential congressional investigations of mistakes they had made while managing the European campaign and didn’t want Patton mucking things up for them.

After the end of the war in Europe, Patton was adamant that the Allies should have shifted the target of the war effort to Russia, as he considered war with them inevitable. With troops, weapons, and supplies in place, he may have been right. Orlando seems to dismiss the possibility that Stalin, Eisenhower or others within the American command structure arranged Patton’s death to keep him from speaking out.

I gave The Tragedy of Patton four stars on Goodreads. The author has written multiple books about Patton, and is obviously very passionate about the subject. The book was well researched, but could have benefitted from additional material.

[Alan Kaplan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre book about the last chapter of Patton's life. Most of this information was covered better by Bill O'Reilly in his book, Killing Patton and the famous Patton movie starring George C. Scott. Bottom line is that Patton was a great American general who got into a huge amount of trouble by saying controversial things and occasionally slapping soldiers. At the end of the war, Patton believed and he was right that the new enemy was the Soviet Union, and that the American army should capture both Berlin and Prague so that they would not fall into Communist Russian hands. Patton was killed at the end of the war in a somewhat questionable truck accident. The car that Patton was riding in was struck by an American soldier's truck. The accident was never investigated. Both the Russians and according to this book and others, the American military, ie Eisenhower, wanted Patton to disappear because he was advocating a new war with Russia, and he was quickly rehabilitating Nazis to help in this new war. Patton was 100% right about the Soviet Union, but at that point with the War in the Pacific winding down and after many years of propaganda about our supposed ally, the USSR, no one in this country was ready for another major war. If you are interested, a better read is the O'Reilly book Killing Patton.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for an honest review.

To be honest this book is for anyone who does not know anything about Patton. If you have read any books before about the man you really won’t find out any new information, and nothing was even new about the death of Patton. As before was it murder or not? Who knows everyone from the soldiers and press would like to think so. He was very opinionated and everything he said about Russia did come to pass.
I do know my father who fought in WWII thought highly of him and even after the war my father stayed in Europe said everyone on the American side was crushed by his death, but still nothing has ever been proven, I wish there was. I received this book from Netgalley.com. I gave it 3 stars.

[Nick Irving · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Patton] had celebrated the genius of Alexander the Great, the courage of Leonidas, and the brilliance of Julius Caesar. But these heroes all had one thing in common: they were all killed with honor. As Patton had said he wanted to be killed by "the last bullet of the last battle of the last war."
...
He expected to die in combat. He saw his destiny as a glorious death in battle.
...
In death, Patton effectively accomplished what he has chased his whole life - the status of a military legend.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good, very heartbreaking story of General George Patton and World War II. I have pretty much given up on America. We are evil and corrupt, and we don't want to get any better, as the elections of 2020 and 2022 demonstrate. I don't think there is any reason for me to vote any more.

[Rob Orlando · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that explores the loss of George Patton as a General and American Icon

[William Brandley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received the book free for a magazine subscription. If you want the cliff notes synopsis of Pattons Life this book is for you.

[James Stephen Lorson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a really bad book, but too many factual errors to be an acceptable history book.

[John Purvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Orlando is the author of four books. The Tragedy of Patton A Soldier’s Date With Destiny: Could World War II’s Greatest General Have Stopped the Cold War? was published in 2021. It is the 30th book I completed reading in 2023.

I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com with the expectation of a fair and honest review. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! I categorize this book as G.

The book is a biography of General George Patton. It starts with a brief account of his life up to the start of WWII. While it touches briefly on his combat victories, most of the book focuses on the ramifications of his slapping incidents and his outspoken opposition to the Soviets. With the war in Europe over in May of 1945, what role was Patton going to play?

I enjoyed the 4.5 hours reading this 212-page WWII biography/history. The short book focuses on the politics of the period and the controversy around Patton. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 3.2 (rounded to 3) out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).