Pershing: Commander of the Great War by John Perry

John J. Pershing was an excellent military leader. While many of the soldiers saw Pershing as a strict leader who demanded perfection, those who were close to him knew Pershing as a man who liked to have some fun. Pershing always put his duties before his family. While he suffered some tragedies in life, i.e., the loss of his wife and most of his children, many illnesses, and the loss of soldiers on the battlefield, Pershing did not allow his grief to get in the way of coordinating some brilliant strategies during war. Whenever possible, Pershing tried to reconcile differences with non-violent tactics, like with the Moros in the Phillipines.

This book may be a bit confusing for those not well versed in military knowledge, though I didn't find the material too difficult to understand. One thing I didn't like was the placement of the photographs. The photos did not fit in chronologically with the chapters. Every couple of chapters, there is a spread of photos. Although the photos have captions, the events depicted in the photos have not yet been covered by the text, so I got confused about what was happening when. I found myself going back a number times and saying, Oh, so this picture took place now, in this chapter.

Also, I found this book to be a bit tedious to go through. It took me two months to finish reading the book.

Overall, I would recommend this book to someone interested in reading about General John J. Pershing, about his life and accomplishments. This book does cover a broad span of time, and the reader will gain an insight into the world events that occurred during Pershing's lifetime.

(The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze® so that I may review the book.)