War As I Knew It by George S. Patton Jr., Paul D. Harkins (1986, Paperback, Reissue)

Unfortunately, George S Patton died shortly after the end of World War II and this book was pieced together from letters, diary entries and a rough draft of his memoirs. Nevertheless, it is a compelling work, with many glimpses of greatness. The reader can't help but wonder what might have happened if Patton had lived - not just to finish this book, but also into the Cold War, the Eisenhower administration, and the Vietnam War. Would there even have been a Vietnam war if Patton had lived? Or even a Communist China?

The book is divided into three parts. The first part consists mostly of letters to home and diary entries. The source material was sanitized to begin with, and it's possible that it was sanitized even farther by Patton's widow, who helped to edit this book.

The second part is Patton's account of his military activity, mostly in World War II. This is excellent historical material, with some parts being more complete than others. The account of the North African campaign seems unfinished.

The third part of the book contains military advice from Patton. This is followed by several dozen personal anecdotes from Patton's career - days that he felt he "earned his pay". In one incident, Patton prevents an angry mob from lynching a "colored" soldier for a crime the soldier did not commit. In another famous incident, Patton slaps a soldier with no physical wounds. Patton asserts that he did the correct thing in this incident, and that the soldier returned to active duty shortly afterward.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history or to anyone seriously interested in studying military strategy & tactics.