Patton's Last Gamble - by Duane Schultz (Paperback)

About the Book

Patton's Last Gamble vividly recounts Gen. George Patton's ill-fated mission to liberate a German POW camp where his son-in-law and other Americans were held. It was a mission Gen. Omar Bradley later said "began as a wild goose chase and ended in tragedy."

Book Synopsis

In March 1945, against the advice of his top subordinates, Gen. George Patton created a special task force to venture more than fifty miles behind enemy lines and liberate a POW camp near Hammelburg, Germany. The camp held some 1,500 American prisoners, including Patton's son-in-law. Hampered by ambushes and a lack of fuel and even maps, the raid was a disaster, one of the worst mistakes of Patton's legendary career. Out of some 300 men, only three dozen returned. Based on memoirs, diaries, combat reports, and interviews with survivors, Patton's Last Gamble vividly recounts a mission Gen. Omar Bradley later said "began as a wild goose chase and ended in tragedy."

Review Quotes

Praise for the author's Into the Fire: Ploesti: The Most Fateful Mission of World War II

Shimmers with historical parallels and modern resonances.

Praise for the author's The Maverick War: Chennault and the Flying Tigers

A rousing account, clearing the air of myth-makers' hyperbole without tarnishing the glory earned by these renegade warriors.

Students of military history, World War II, and Patton will find the book useful. Readers of all backgrounds will find the book a pleasure to read. The reader who finishes this book will learn more about Patton, World War II, and an obscure piece of its history.

About the Author

Duane Schultz is a graduate of Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, and American University. He is the author of Crossing the Rapido: A Tragedy of World War II and Into the Fire: Ploesti, the Most Fateful Mission of World War II, among other military history titles. He has written for such magazines as World War II, World War II History, and Military History Quarterly.