EBOOK
About
General Jacob L. "Jake" Devers (1897-1979) was one of only two officers - the other was Omar C. Bradley - to command an army group during the decisive campaigns of 1944-1945 that liberated Europe and ended the war with Nazi Germany. After the war, Devers led the Army Ground Forces in the United States and eventually retired in 1949 after forty years of service. Despite incredible successes on the battlefield, General George C. Marshall's "dependable man" remains one of the most underrated and overlooked figures of his generation.
In this definitive biography, James Scott Wheeler delivers a groundbreaking reassessment of the American commander whose contributions to victory in Europe are topped only by General Dwight D. Eisenhower's. Wheeler's exhaustively researched chronicle of Devers's life and career reveals a leader who demonstrated an extraordinary ability to cut through red tape and solve complex problems. Nevertheless, Eisenhower disliked Devers - a fact laid bare when he ordered Devers's Sixth Army Group to halt at the Rhine. After the war, Eisenhower's and Bradley's accounts of the generals' disagreements over strategy and tactics became received wisdom, to the detriment of Devers's reputation.
An essential contribution to twentieth-century history, Jacob L. Devers provides a fresh and nuanced interpretation of the senior command during World War II and offers a new perspective on a highly accomplished soldier.
In this definitive biography, James Scott Wheeler delivers a groundbreaking reassessment of the American commander whose contributions to victory in Europe are topped only by General Dwight D. Eisenhower's. Wheeler's exhaustively researched chronicle of Devers's life and career reveals a leader who demonstrated an extraordinary ability to cut through red tape and solve complex problems. Nevertheless, Eisenhower disliked Devers - a fact laid bare when he ordered Devers's Sixth Army Group to halt at the Rhine. After the war, Eisenhower's and Bradley's accounts of the generals' disagreements over strategy and tactics became received wisdom, to the detriment of Devers's reputation.
An essential contribution to twentieth-century history, Jacob L. Devers provides a fresh and nuanced interpretation of the senior command during World War II and offers a new perspective on a highly accomplished soldier.
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Reviews
"Jacob L. Devers: A General's Life successfully combines the story of Devers's private life with that of his military life and career to provide a first-rate profile of both the man and the general. The scholarship is impeccable. Wheeler's discussion of the Devers-Eisenhower controversy is the best and most thorough account I have read."
Carlo D'Este, author of Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life
"This book will become the standard work on Devers. Although offering a sympathetic portrayal of Devers, Wheeler does not sacrifice his basic objectivity. There is also a spark of controversy because the book calls into question the traditional view of Eisenhower's management of his American subordinates."
Stephen R. Taaffe, author of Marshall and His Generals: U.S. Army Commanders in World War
"Jacob L. Devers: A General's Life is a major contribution to revising the traditional account of World War II in Europe. Wheeler gives us a very different view of Eisenhower in particular and the senior command relationships in general during 1944-1945."
Jonathan M. House, author of A Military History of the Cold War, 1944–1962
Extended Details
- SeriesAmerican Warriors