"Omar Bradley rose to the pinnacle of the American military establishment and was the last of the major World War II military leaders to pass from the scene. Usually included as the final and youngest of the "five stars," he had the most combat experience of the three American Army Goup commanders in Europe during World War II and was our most important ground commander. Bradley's postwar career ensures his legacy as one of the architects of US Cold War global strategy. These latter contributions, as much as Bradley's demonstrable World War II leadership, shaped US history and culture in decisive, dramatic, and previously unexamined ways."-- Provided by publisher.

Chronology -- Prologue : 1913 Army-Navy baseball game -- Part I. Becoming a commander: 1. Itinerant farmer from Little Dixie ; 2. "The most democratic school in the United States" ; 3. Mastering the profession of arms ; 4. Learning "to walk, to crawl, to run" ; 5. The strong right arm -- Part II. Liberation of Europe: 6. "Much the greatest thing we have ever attempted" ; 7. COBRA sprouts wings ; 8. "The greatest war machine in the history of American arms" ; 9. Staking all on one card ; 10. The Rhine and victory ; 11. The Veterans Administration : "infiltration and encirclement as practiced in Washington" ; 12. "The wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy.".