Steven L. Ossad, "Omar Nelson Bradley: America’s GI General, 1893-1981" (U Missouri Press, 2017)

Summary

Steven L. Ossad joins New Books at Military History to talk about his award-winning biography, Omar Nelson Bradley: America’s GI General, 1893-1981 (University of Missouri Press, 2017). Following the suggestion of his mentor, Martin Blumenson, Steven delivers a comprehensive look at the life and career of this central, but little-studied, figure in the Allied effort toward victory in the European Theater of Operations in World War Two. Rising up from abject poverty to become the last of the American “five stars” – those general officers esteemed enough to be awarded the rank General of the Army – Bradley stands out not only on the balance of his wartime service, but his critical stewardship of the Veterans Administration and later his service as the nation’s chief military advisor to President Harry S. Truman. Steven Ossad delivers a highly anticipated, “warts and all”, look at this important man and his legacy.

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Bob Wintermute

Bob Wintermute is professor of history at Queens College, CUNY.

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