History professor Taaffe (Commanding Lincoln's Navy) documents the experience of George C. Marshall, chief of staff of the U.S. Army during World War II, as he chose the army's fighting leadership. Taaffe discusses the qualities Marshall looked for, as well as the compromises needed to weld an international fighting force in which British troops played a significant role. The 10.4 million men who served in the U.S. Army during WWII were organized into eight field armies and 20 corps, and Taaffe studies the 38 men who commanded them. He highlights the way Eisenhower and MacArthur differed in outlook and method as they commanded their respective European and South Western Pacific theaters. Alternating between these regions, Taaffe shows how Marshall and Eisenhower cooperated to pursue leadership staffing for their shared objectives, as well as the more turf-based approach adopted by MacArthur, who tried to maintain a leadership promotion process as a patronage type system, within his own command. Despite their differences, the common service background, education, and training which united Marshall's leaders helped address rivalries between armies—and allies—as they pursued victory. (Oct.)

"Taaffe’s penetrating look at the Army’s ‘one indispensable man’ shows how commanders like Omar Bradley, ‘Vinegar Joe’ Stilwell, Courtney Hodges, and their peers were selected and deployed—and how they kept their jobs."—Wall Street Journal

"Rarely does an academic historian offer insight into the past and a tutorial on the art of senior-level command. Taaffe accomplishes both. . . . Essential reading."—Proccedings, U.S. Naval Academy

"Provides a collective portrait of the ground army’s senior officer corps that is searching and complex."—Pacific Historical Review

"A well-written and refreshing approach that makes a valuable contribution to the study of senior military leadership in war."—Army

"A cogent, well-researched, and important contribution to our understanding of Marshall and his commanders that explores their conflicts with each other as well as their battlefield successes and failures."—Mark A. Stoler, editor of the George C. Marshall Papers

"Provides a marvelous synthesis of the specialized literature on the dozens of leading generals—some famous, many obscure—who directed the military campaigns in the European and Pacific theaters of war."—Michael Schaller, author of Douglas MacArthur: Far Eastern General

"A superb portrait of a group of army officers that deserves to be read by everyone interested in World War II."—Jonathan House, author of Combined Arms Warfare in the Twentieth Century

"A crisply written study and effective introduction to the relationship of Marshall and his lieutenants as they waged war in an extremely complex international conflict. It deserves a wide readership."—Kevin C. Holzimmer, author of General Walter Krueger: Unsung Hero of the Pacific War