George Marshall: A Biography

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 II, originator of the Marshall Plan following 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.