Dwight Eisenhower called General George S. Patton "mentally unbalanced" and "just like a time bomb," and indeed, the egotistical, mercurial, aggressive Patton is perhaps as well known for his questionable behavior and eccentric beliefs as for his daring battlefield exploits. In a brief but probing assessment of Patton's life based on strong research in primary sources and knowledge of psychology, Jim Sudmeier considers the mind of Patton: what made this military genius tick? To what extent was Patton's boldness and brilliance as a general, his willingness to welcome risk and danger, connected to his unstable personality? Sudmeier presents a myth-shattering reconsideration of one of military history's most famous commanders. -- Amazon.com

List of illustrations --List of maps -- List of tables -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Mexican trophy hunt -- Charging into the Million-Dollar wound -- Social climber and people user -- The spoiledest boy in the world -- Maternal love lost -- Personality disorders -- Dumping on subordinates -- Patton versus Eisenhower and everybody else -- Poet, inventor, mechanical genius, designer, hero -- Brilliant strategist? Lead from the front? -- Vanity case -- Liberating Bastogne, Patton's finest moment -- The Hammelburg raid-- not his "only mistake" -- Patton and leadership -- Epilogue -- Appendix -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the author