The History Book Club discussion

This thread is dedicated to discussions regarding George Marshall.

George Catlett Marshall (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense. Once noted as the "organizer of victory" by Winston Churchill for his leadership of the Allied victory in World War II,[2] Marshall served as the United States Army Chief of Staff during the war and as the chief military adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As Secretary of State, his name was given to the Marshall Plan, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

Source: Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_M...

Nobel Peace Prize 1953

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/pe...

George Marshall

http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/marshall/ma...

George C. Marshall Foundation:

http://www.marshallfoundation.org/

THE MARSHALL PLAN SPEECH:

http://www.marshallfoundation.org/lib...

About George Marshall:

http://www.marshallfoundation.org/abo...

Mark Perry

Ed Cray

Mark A. Stoler

"The cost of war is constantly spread before me, written neatly in many ledgers whose columns are gravestones. For that reason, I am constantly moved to find the means to prevent the calamity of war."

- George Marshall

This book is not a biography but a collection of portraits, personal pictures and memorabilia from General Marshall with text by General Colin Powell and others. A personal look at a rather private person.

George C. Marshall: Soldier of Peace

Colin Powell (no photo)

Synopsis:
George C. Marshall served as chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff during World War II and as secretary of state during the rebuilding of Europe. A master of mobilization and organization, he did as much as any national leader in achieving Allied victory in the war; afterward, as architect of the Marshall Plan, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for that massive and highly effective effort on behalf of Western European economic recovery. Winston Churchill called him "the noblest Roman of them all."

This colorful collection of Marshal portraiture and memorabilia commemorates and humanizes this giant of a man, about whom comparatively little beyond his career achievements is known.

"He was certainly no flamboyant general, he was not a character, there were no pearl-handled revolvers or corncob pipes of crusty anecdotes to spice up the legend of Marshall. He never wrote a book to tell his story. He never ran for election to public office. He never sought popularity. He never exploited his fame. He never asked for recognition or favors. He was a man driven more than anything else by a sense of duty, by the powerful, overpowering obligation of service. To him, it was never George C. Marshall that was important; it was the task at hand." -- Colin Powell

Lots of good information about General Marshall in this excellent book.

Roosevelt's Centurions

by Joseph E. Persico

Synopsis:

All American presidents are commanders in chief by law. Few perform as such in practice. In Roosevelt’s Centurions, distinguished historian Joseph E. Persico reveals how, during World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt seized the levers of wartime power like no president since Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Declaring himself “Dr. Win-the-War,” FDR assumed the role of strategist in chief, and, though surrounded by star-studded generals and admirals, he made clear who was running the war. FDR was a hands-on war leader, involving himself in everything from choosing bomber targets to planning naval convoys to the design of landing craft. Persico explores whether his strategic decisions, including his insistence on the Axis powers’ unconditional surrender, helped end or may have prolonged the war.

Taking us inside the Allied war councils, the author reveals how the president brokered strategy with contentious allies, particularly the iron-willed Winston Churchill; rallied morale on the home front; and handpicked a team of proud, sometimes prickly warriors who, he believed, could fight a global war. Persico’s history offers indelible portraits of the outsize figures who roused the “sleeping giant” that defeated the Axis war machine: the dutiful yet independent-minded George C. Marshall, charged with rebuilding an army whose troops trained with broomsticks for rifles, eggs for hand grenades; Dwight Eisenhower, an unassuming Kansan elevated from obscurity to command of the greatest fighting force ever assembled; the vainglorious Douglas MacArthur; and the bizarre battlefield genius George S. Patton. Here too are less widely celebrated military leaders whose contributions were just as critical: the irascible, dictatorial navy chief, Ernest King; the acerbic army advisor in China, “Vinegar” Joe Stilwell; and Henry H. “Hap” Arnold, who zealously preached the gospel of modern air power. The Roosevelt who emerges from these pages is a wartime chess master guiding America’s armed forces to a victory that was anything but foreordained.

What are the qualities we look for in a commander in chief? In an era of renewed conflict, when Americans are again confronting the questions that FDR faced—about the nature and exercise of global power—Roosevelt’s Centurions is a timely and revealing examination of what it takes to be a wartime leader in a freewheeling, complicated, and tumultuous democracy.

An upcoming biography:
Release date: October 21, 2014

George Marshall: An Interpretive Biography

by Stanley Hirshson (no photo)

Synopsis:

While Eisenhower Patton, Bradley, Montgomery, McArthur, Nimitz, and Leahy waged battles in Europe and the Pacific, one military leader actually ran World War II for America, overseeing personnel and logistics: Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1939 to 1945, George C. Marshall.

This interpretive biography of George C. Marshall follows his life from his childhood in Western Pennsylvania and his military training at the Virginia Military Institute to his role during and after World War II and his death in 1959 at the age of seventy-eight. It brings to light the virtuous historical role models who inspired him, including George Washington and Robert E. Lee, and his relationships with the Washington political establishment, military brass, and foreign leaders, from Harry Truman to Chiang Kai Shek. It explores Marshall’s successes and failures during World War II, and his contributions through two critical years of the emerging Cold War—including the transformative Marshall Plan, which saved Western Europe from Soviet domination, and the failed attempt to unite China’s nationalists and communists.

Based on breathtaking research and filled with rich detail, George Marshall is sure to be hailed as the definitive work on one of the most influential figures in American history.

Awesome, we need a one-volume history on him.

I read the two books by Forest C Pogue, Ordeal, and Hope, and Education of a General. The thing I took out of those books was not so much a biography of General Marshall, but a fascinating look at life in the Army, and how the military was viewed 100 years ago. Living in a time where America spends more money on the military than a dozen other countries combined, it was really something to see that it wasn't that long ago that the military was an after thought and had to beg Congress for money

Thanks, Tammy, it wasn't that long ago, just before WWII. Hard to believe now.

Don't forget to cite the two books. Pogue is still considered the best out there on Marshall:

by Forrest C. Pogue (no photo)

George C. Marshall: Interviews and Reminiscences for Forrest C. Pogue

(no image) Geo C. Marshall Interviews by Forrest C. Pogue (no photo)

Synopsis:

Interviews with George C.Marshall about his time in the army

An upcoming book:
Release date: May 28, 2016

General George C. Marshall and the Atomic Bomb

by Frank A. Settle (no photo)

Synopsis:

This book details the evolution of General George Marshall's relationship with the atomic bomb-including the Manhattan Project and the use of atomic weapons on Japan-as it emerged as the ultimate weapon of mass destruction. * Presents a clear and concise narrative of Marshall's interactions with nuclear weapons, from his appointment to President Roosevelt's advisory committee in 1941 to his tenure as President Truman's secretary of defense in 1950 * Documents Marshall's role in pulling together the financial, material, and human resources required for the Manhattan Project as well as his collaboration with Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Manhattan Project leader General Leslie Groves to produce the atomic bomb * Derives an accurate account of Marshall's involvement with nuclear weapons through official documents, his correspondence, the opinions of his peers, and personal interviews he granted later in his life.

George Catlett Marshall: The Indispensable Man

by Eric Hammel

Synopsis:

General George Catlett Marshall was the greatest American military man of his age. If the United States Army had kicked off the 20th century with the specific intent of constructing an army chief of staff to lead it to victory in World War II, it could not have done a better job than what Chance provided in the triumphs and travails over forty years that molded George Marshall.

Now military historian Eric Hammel has provided us with a brief (6,500-word) biography of this indispensable American leader.

George Marshall: A Biography

by Debi Unger (no photo)

Synopsis:

A major historical biography of George C. Marshall—the general who ran the U.S. campaign during the Second World War, the Secretary of State who oversaw the successful rebuilding of post-war Europe, and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize—and the first to offer a complete picture of his life.

While Eisenhower Patton, Bradley, Montgomery, McArthur, Nimitz, and Leahy waged battles in Europe and the Pacific, one military leader actually ran World War II for America, overseeing personnel and logistics: Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army from 1939 to 1945, George C. Marshall.

This interpretive biography of George C. Marshall follows his life from his childhood in Western Pennsylvania and his military training at the Virginia Military Institute to his role during and after World War II and his death in 1959 at the age of seventy-eight. It brings to light the virtuous historical role models who inspired him, including George Washington and Robert E. Lee, and his relationships with the Washington political establishment, military brass, and foreign leaders, from Harry Truman to Chiang Kai Shek. It explores Marshall’s successes and failures during World War II, and his contributions through two critical years of the emerging Cold War—including the transformative Marshall Plan, which saved Western Europe from Soviet domination, and the failed attempt to unite China’s nationalists and communists.

Based on breathtaking research and filled with rich detail, George Marshall is sure to be hailed as the definitive work on one of the most influential figures in American history.

The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and the Winning of World War II

by Winston Groom

Synopsis:

Celebrated historian Winston Groom tells the intertwined and uniquely American tales of George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, and George Marshall - from the World War I battle that shaped them to their greatest victory: leading the allies to victory in World War II. These three remarkable men-of-arms who rose from the gruesome hell of the First World War to become the finest generals of their generation during World War II redefined America's ideas of military leadership and brought forth a new generation of American soldier. Their efforts revealed to the world the grit and determination that would become synonymous with America in the post-war years.

Filled with novel-worthy twists and turns, and set against the backdrop of the most dramatic moments of the twentieth century, The Generals is a powerful, action-packed book filled with marvelous surprises and insights into the lives of America's most celebrated warriors.

An upcoming book:
Release date: April 10, 2018

The China Mission: George C. Marshall's Unfinished War, 1945-1947

by Daniel Kurtz-Phelan (no photo)

Synopsis:

Following the phenomenal success of General George C. Marshall’s leadership of the American army during World War II, he was the standout candidate for a vital international mission: brokering a coalition government between China’s warring Nationalists and Communists. Marshall went overseas as a U.S. “special representative” and began enacting miraculous change. Under Marshall’s guiding hand, China’s embattled political factions agreed to a ceasefire and settled on the principles of a democratic government. But over the next ten months, Marshall’s mission soured: the agreements he brokered fractured and civil war came to China after all.

This fascinating narrative history portrays the incredible beginnings and ultimate failure of Marshall’s high-stakes mission, with a remarkable cast of characters featuring a heroes’ gallery of American diplomats―Truman, Eisenhower, MacArthur, and many others. In spellbinding, pinpoint detail, The China Mission chronicles an unforgettable misstep in American diplomacy that changed the course of global politics forevermore.

Thank you Jerome

Another:
Release date: July 9, 2019

George Marshall: Defender of the Republic

by David L. Roll (no photo)

Synopsis:

Winston Churchill called him World War II's "organizer of victory." Harry Truman said he was "the greatest military man that this country ever produced." Today, in our era of failed leadership, few lives are more worthy of renewed examination than Marshall and his fifty years of loyal service to the defense of his nation and its values.

Even as a young officer he was heralded as a genius, a reputation that grew when in WWI he planned and executed a nighttime movement of more than a half million troops from one battlefield to another that led to the armistice. Between the wars he helped modernize combat training, and re-staffed the U.S. Army's officer corps with the men who would lead in the next decades. But as WWII loomed, it was the role of army chief of staff in which Marshall's intellect and backbone were put to the test, when his blind commitment to duty would run up against the realities of Washington politics. Long seen as a stoic, almost statuesque figure, he emerges in these pages as a man both remarkable and deeply human, thanks to newly discovered sources.

Set against the backdrop of five major conflicts—two world wars, Palestine, Korea, and the Cold War—Marshall's education in military, diplomatic, and political power, replete with their nuances and ambiguities, runs parallel with America's emergence as a global superpower. The result is a defining account of one of our most consequential leaders.

Thank you Jerome, a lot of interesting adds.

The Partnership: George Marshall, Henry Stimson, and the Extraordinary Collaboration That Won World War II

Thank you Ted.

I have reposted your add - using our format.

by Edward Farley Aldrich (no photo)

Where are those kind of men now when we need them in our country's leadership - the kind that loved our country more than themselves.

An upcoming book:
Release date: March 19, 2024

The Making of a Leader: The Formative Years of George C. Marshall

by Josiah Bunting III (no photo)

Synopsis:

George Marshall’s accomplishments are well-known: after guiding the Allies to victory during World War II, he set Europe on the postwar path to recovery with the plan that bears his name and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. But how did he become such an effective leader?

By eschewing the years and accomplishments for which Marshall is most often remembered and focusing instead on the decisive moments that preceded them, The Making of a Leader provides the most detailed look yet at the mettle of Marshall’s character, from his arrival as a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute and his Fort Leavenworth days—where he “learned how to learn”—to his instructive time as John J. Pershing’s aide-de-camp and his critical experiences during World War I. Josiah Bunting III, a lifelong educator and former superintendent of Marshall’s alma mater, highlights the importance of Marshall’s activity between the wars, when he led “the single most influential period of military education” at Fort Benning, eventually culminating in his appointment as army chief of staff in 1939.

In this illuminating portrait, Bunting cuts through the legend of Marshall to the man—his frustrations, passions, loves, and brilliance—revealing a humble commander who knew not only how to lead but how to see the leader in others.