I am reading Killing Patton by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard https://www.billoreilly.com/killing-patton. Some of the reviews of this book are not favorable. I have just started it today, and it reads like non-fiction, although it is historical.
Gen. Patton is a figure in history I find fascinating. I guess in part because his ego was larger than life. In part he was a paradox of a man: he was a horseman, and helped to save the Lipizzan Stallions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipizzan but was noted for the poor treatment of the concentration camp survivors, especially the Jewish people https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/10/06/bill-oreillys-lame-excuse-for-his-awful-killing-patton-blunder/. He had a superego, but in large part, his soldiers admired him because he was often seen at or near the front. He infamously slapped soldiers whom he branded as cowards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton_slapping_incidents. And he comes across as mixed regarding the use of Black soldiers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/761st_Tank_Battalion_(United_States), mostly accepting them out of dire necessity, but once preventing a lynching in El Paso.
I think Gen. Patton is a complex man, and like many figures in history, is not all good or all bad. It will be interesting to finish the book.
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