The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, July 1970 - April, 1971 Page: 434

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

The documents in the first four volumes are arranged chronologi-
cally from December, 1941, when Eisenhower was assigned to the War
Plans Division of the War Department, to May, 1945, when, as supreme
commander of Allied forces in Europe, he announced the fulfillment
of the Allied military mission. Evident throughout is Eisenhower's
singleness of purpose: the marshalling of Allied capabilities into a
cohesive military machine to defeat Nazi Germany. Nothing was al-
lowed to obscure that goal. The personal dedication and the objectivity
with which he viewed his mission and the personnel with whom he
dealt are best illustrated in Eisenhower's many personal letters to
General George C. Marshall. This correspondence clearly delineates
the depth of Eisenhower's commitment.
The fifth volume contains an excellent bibliographical essay on pri-
mary sources together with a listing of the secondary sources cited.
Stephen E. Ambrose's essay, "Eisenhower the Commander: Single
Thrust Versus Broad Front," deals unobjectively with the controversy
between Eisenhower and Montgomery over strategy. A more able de-
fense of the correctness of Eisenhower's decision is found in the docu-
ments themselves. A useful, well subdivided index for all five volumes
is found here.
It is unfortunate that cost may limit purchase of this work mainly
to libraries and military scholars. There is much to recommend it to
the student and the general reader. It provides an accurate picture of
American involvement in Europe during World War II and, more
important, a clear, revealing portrait of Dwight David Eisenhower.
Fairfax, Virginia ROBERT E. HAYS, JR.
My Brother Lyndon. By Sam Houston Johnson. (New York: Cowles
Book Company, Inc., 1969. Pp. 269. Illustrations, index. $6.95.)
You can still go into small rural communities in Texas, and find a
local philosopher and historian, sitting on a bench or in a rocking
chair in front of a combination grocery-drug-hardware store and post
office, possibly with a gasoline pump in front. He spends his time
carefully observing all that happens, but is seldom active in the actual
events which are going forward to lengthen the town's history.
If you have the time and inclination, you can easily engage this
chronicler in a one-sided conversation in which he will relate all that
he has observed and all that he has heard over his many years of

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