George Marshall

October 6, 2014
The Ungers (LBJ: A Life) complete a project, conceived by the late Hirshson (General Patton), for a full-scale biography of this great soldier-statesman that is both comprehensively researched and highly readable, but fundamentally misunderstands its subject. WWI gave Marshall practice in managing a large army and dealing with “difficult allies.” In 1939, a combination of talent and influence brought him to the post of chief of staff, placing him at the center of a greater war where his success brought promotion to General of the Army. Marshall’s capacities as a manager fitted perfectly the requirements of a global war waged by a grand alliance of temporary convenience. His fundamental skills involved balancing military, political, and economic tensions at the highest levels in a context of strong personalities. Marshall was less adept at the level of operations, like the timing of D-Day, but it was his ability as a manager that defined his postwar career: a secretary of state whose defining and brokering of the economic reconstruction plan that bears his name was recognized by a Nobel Peace Prize. The authors nevertheless present Marshall as a man whose “austere persona” inspired respect and confidence, and conclude his performance as soldier and statesman was “less than awe-inspiring,” reflecting “sterling character but unremarkable powers.” The authors’ conclusion that Marshall’s reputation was the construction of America’s longing for a military leader above politics and ambition defies the weight of evidence and scholarship, the reasoned judgment of Marshall’s contemporaries, and his role as a decisive and positive factor in 20 crucial years of national policy. Agent: Alex Hoyt, Alexander Hoyt Assoc.

October 15, 2014

This biography provides an excellent overview of one of the 20th century's most influential soldiers and statesmen. Although born in rural Pennsylvania, George Marshall (1880-1959) was a quintessential Virginia gentleman for whom duty and loyalty were of the utmost importance. The book insightfully addresses his interactions not only with other major players on the world stage but also his development as a junior officer during World War I and the army's years of slow promotion. The most recent single-volume biography of Marshall since Ed Cray's General of the Army (1990), this work includes a fair evaluation of its subject's strengths and mistakes as army chief of staff during World War I, originator of the Marshall Plan during World War II, and his time as secretary of state and secretary of defense during the early years of the Cold War. The Ungers (coauthors, The Guggenheims) appraise differing views of historians to provide analysis of such controversial events as the attack on Pearl Harbor, troop replacement policy, and the atomic bomb. Their research draws richly on a depth and breadth of primary and secondary sources, including Forrest C. Pogue's authorized four-volume biography. VERDICT Strongly recommended for those interested in military and war history. [See Prepub Alert, 4/7/14.]--Leslie Lewis, Duquesne Univ. Lib., Pittsburgh

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2014
A biography of George Marshall (1880-1959) focusing on the general's overall decency rather than his strategic brilliance. Having inherited this project after the death of historian Hirshson, the Ungers (The Guggenheims, 2005, etc.) make a valiant attempt to cover Marshall's accomplished military career and his years as President Franklin Roosevelt's chief of staff and President Harry Truman's secretary of state. A graduate of Virginia Military Institute and a protege of Gen. John Pershing, with early postings in the Philippines and China, Marshall, laconic and humorless, could never garner the kind of position as commander of troops that would have ensured a glorious career. He was most effective at training officers in the late 1920s, organizing Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corp in preparation for his move to Washington to take up a position with the War Plans Division and eventually become chief of staff. This indeed is what the authors believe he should best be remembered for: "creating the American World War II army virtually out of nothing." As Roosevelt's wartime right arm, Marshall pushed for the "Europe First" agenda and was deemed too valuable at home to spare as supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, yet Marshall's "complacency" about Japan's threats on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack lent his right-wing critics fodder for the rest of his life. The Ungers find him naive in dealing with the Chinese when sent to negotiate a truce between the Nationalists and the Communists in late 1945; they do not credit him with coming up with the so-called Marshall Plan to help Europe get back on its feet, for which he won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. However, Marshall always remained a devoted and dutiful officer. A yeoman's effort in service of an admirable subject in need of more good studies about him.

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May 1, 2014

Queens College history professor Hirshson was just starting this biography when he died in 2003. His work was taken up by Irwin Unger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning professor emeritus at New York University, and journalist Debi Unger. A big biography on the chief of staff of the U.S. Army from 1939 to 1945 and postwar secretary of state.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2014
George Marshall spent almost 50 years in public service as a soldier and diplomat. As U.S. Army chief of staff, secretary of state, and briefly as secretary of defense, his impact on the course of American history in the twentieth century was unquestionably immense. Yet, as this well-researched and well-written account confirms, both his accomplishments and failures remain topics of controversy even today. The authors are scrupulously fair in their treatment of Marshall. Their efforts to examine his personal qualities fall short, possibly because he presented a public face of reticence and shunned deep engagement with the Washington social and political elites. But that reticence probably left him vulnerable to some of the vicious attacks he endured during WWII and the immediate postwar period. The authors praise him for his management of the vast military expansion and his ability to cope with the difficulties inherent in controlling a giant military coalition. His decisions regarding the implementation of D-Day and the planned invasion of Japan are justifiably questioned, as are his choices as the Cold War commenced. This is an excellent reexamination of Marshall's career that is ideal for general readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)