Few American generals inspire stronger opinions than George S. Patton. To some, he was the Army’s greatest battlefield commander. To others, he was reckless, egotistical, and impossible to control. Eighty years after World War II, is there still anything new to learn about one of America’s most studied military leaders?
Join us as military historian Kevin Hymel, author of the acclaimed three-volume Patton’s War: An American General’s Combat Leadership, takes us beyond the familiar stories and Hollywood image to reveal the man behind the legend. Drawing on Patton’s original handwritten diaries, personal letters, newly available archival sources, and hundreds of firsthand accounts, Hymel offers a fresh portrait of the controversial commander whose aggressive leadership shaped the Allied campaign across Europe.
Rather than celebrating or condemning Patton, Hymel examines him as he really was: a brilliant battlefield commander, a demanding and often inspiring leader, a complex human being whose extraordinary strengths were matched by very real flaws. Along the way, we’ll revisit famous moments from North Africa, Sicily, France, the Battle of the Bulge, and the final drive into Germany while separating enduring myths from the historical record.
Whether you’re a lifelong student of Patton or simply fascinated by the personalities who shaped World War II, this program offers a chance to reconsider one of the war’s most consequential—and controversial—American generals through the eyes of one of today’s leading military historians.
