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Patton's Photographs: War as He Saw It | 
 enlarge | Author: Kevin M. Hymel
Publisher: Potomac Books Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $26.30
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 72878
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 172
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 11 x 8.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 1574888714
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.5412730222
EAN: 9781574888713
ASIN: 1574888714
Publication Date: April 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
While researching an article on Gen. George S. Patton, Kevin M. Hymel made an astonishing discovery. Browsing the Library of Congress's Patton index, he found lists of photo albums. Opening one, he found photos Patton himself took during World War II, a gold mine of historical photographs of which even Blumenson, Patton's official biographer, was unaware.
Patton photographed everything that interested him and produced tableaux of the battlefields of North Africa, Sicily, and continental Europe. For Patton, history was everything, and his Leica camera-standard issue for reporters and historians in the U.S. Army-ensured he could provide historians an accurate depiction of events, free from interpretation. His photographs depict the victorious face of war, with GIs on the move, military bridges under construction, and tanks slicing through the countryside. They show defeat as well-smashed German tanks, prisoners of war, and bodies strewn across the landscape. Moreover, they provide a record of where Patton fought, showcasing historic sights and the different terrain from North Africa to Europe.
Now, for the first time, many of Patton's personal photographs are presented in one book for the reader to observe history as Patton saw it. Hymel provides background information and captions for the photographs and occasionally uses Patton's own words to describe the sights. Patton claimed his hobby once saved his life. Stopping to take a photograph in Italy, he witnessed a salvo of German shells exploding on the roadway up ahead, where he likely would have been had he not stopped. With Patton's Photographs, readers can now view that life during the war through the eye of one of America's greatest commanders.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
What can I say? June 13, 2008
He was my Grandfather and this is excellent work. Job well done.
George Patton Waters
 Patton's Photographs March 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Patton's Photographs War as He Saw It
Author Kevin M. Hymel
Publisher Potomac Books
ISBN 1 57488-871-4 Hardcover
Pp 137
Pictures
List Price Hardcover $39.95 also available in Soft Cover
Wow, the book Patton's Photographs War as He Saw It is a unique book. I have read many books about Patton but never had he taken pictures to document his war time experiences. I thought I knew Patton but I did not realize how much I did not know about him. Patton's photographs tell his story from his campaigns in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany.
At a recent AUSA (Association of the United States Army) meeting, I was fortunate to hear Kevin Hymel speak about his book and show some of the photos he used in illustrate the book. Hymel spent seven years researching this. It is not just only just photo book but descriptions of the photos and the events that they represent. Kevin Hymel tells how he stumbled on some of Patton's photographs while researching another project. He was surprised at the amount of previously unpublished photos available. The author used a collection of fifteen volumes of Patton's photographs. The reader learns that Patton refused to take pictures of deceased American GIs, but would take pictures of the dead German soldiers and their blown up equipment. Patton often took photos of enemy tanks and make notes about their armor and their ability to withstand a hit from a weapon system. He forwarded the photos and notes to Aberdeen Proving Grounds so they could make improvements on our tanks.
If you have read Patton's history take a look at this book. Descriptions of campaigns and battle maps that Patton participated in will give you a good over view. The photos in this book bring Patton to life. Patton will always be remembered for his good and bad actions. I just hope the good outweighs the bad.
Patton's was a front line soldier and if you look at the pictures you will see him in the thick of things. Patton's Photographs War as He Saw is IT worth taking the time to read and discover a Patton that we did not know.
MAJ (ret) Eric Shuler NJARNG
Incredible Historical Perspective on Patton October 5, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Throw away all of the previous biographies of Patton (and Patton's own posthumously published diaries) regarding his exploits in World War II unless you read them in conjunction with, and in light of, this book, which stems from an historian's treasure trove of 15 oversized albums of photographs by Patton and other memorabilia he sent to his wife during World War II, often with stories behind the photos and mementos. (His wife, and then one of his daughters after the slapping incidents[s] in Sicily, helped to put the albums together.)
Patton's photo collections, for reasons that are best explained by prior biographers of Patton, lanquished untouched, unviewed, and unused in any history of Patton until the author of this book discovered them in the U.S. Library of Congress in 1996 and was eventually able to publish this selection of those materials in 2006.
The result is an unparalled insight into the mind of one of the greatest military visionaries, strategists, and tacticians of his, or any other, generation.
You cannot claim to understand Patton and his mindset unless, and until, you see the war from his perspective, which this book does in an astounding way as it includes about 150 photographs taken by Patton of things he found to be of interest as he and his armies progressed from North Africa to Sicily to France to Germany.
Also included are about 75 other photographs relating to Patton and his military adventures, including photos taken of him by others and maps/diagrams on which he outlined his strategies and tactics.
The book basically tells the otherwise well-known story of Patton in his various campaigns, beginning in North Africa in November 1942, to the end of the Third Reich and Patton's brief post-war experiences until his untimely death in December 1945 from a vehicle accident (his famous, almost last words, when the doctors arrived on the scene were: "I think I'm paralyzed" [he was, from the neck down and died from complications 11 days later]).
Each chapter of the book is enriched by numerous sidebars about Patton and those around him as well as enhanced by footnotes for the many quotations by, and anecdotes about, Patton sprinkled liberally throughout the text and the captions of the photographs.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I have read dozens and dozens of photographic histories relating to World War II on a wide, wide variety of topics (not to mention hundreds of standard works and texts and the not too occasional foray into historical fiction). (In this regard I disagree with those people who believe - mistakenly - that a book is somehow beneath them and has nothing to offer unless it is a dry, poorly written, dusty tome devoid of illustrations and about some minuscule aspect of history that more often than not fails to put its subject matter into any kind of context because the author suffers from the syndrome of being unable to see the forest for the trees.) This stands out far and above as the best photographic history that I can recall, especially as it relates to a specific person or subject. It is must reading (and viewing) by any serious student of Patton or World War II in general.
Stunning Job!!! June 2, 2007
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book is great. Not only does the reader get a general history of Patton, but also many, many photographs taken by the great General himself! It is amazing to think that when you are looking at these photos, you are really seeing what Patton saw! Imagine what it would be like of Julius Caesar, George Washington, or Napoleon had carried a camera so that we could see what they saw. Well, essentially, that is what this book is - it allows you to see what a great hero saw.
I congratulate Mr Hymel on his wonderful find, and encourage all who are interested in Patton or just WWII in general to take a look at this great book...
Patton's Photographs: War As He Saw It November 10, 2006
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Excellent book - would recommend to any fan or person interested in General George S. Patton. Photographs show his interest and focus as he battled through WW 2.
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