Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969)

Crusade in Europe is General Dwight Eisenhower’s memoir of his experiences during World War II. This is not a retelling of individual battles, nor does it offer detail about life on the front lines. Eisenhower, as the supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe, was responsible for the strategy, planning and leadership of all Allied operations in the European Theatre. The bulk of the book focuses then, on how Eisenhower and his staff (the Supreme HQ, Allied Expeditionary Force or show more SHAEF) led the Allied effort against Nazi Germany.

This is an excellent book, and very much worth your time. Some have found Eisenhower’s writing style dry, but I found it straightforward and practical, even as it is also more businesslike than personable. At some points he does assume the reader has an understanding of things that, given the passage of over 70 years, you may not be familiar with. So if you’re like me you’ll find yourself googling to find out more about people, war equipment, or locations that he discusses. I recommend you do this if you read the book - I found that giving myself this added context really helped me understand more of what Ike had to say.

Eisenhower’s purpose in writing the book seems to be to leave the reader with a better understanding of what it took him to be successful, and what future leaders called to similar tasks may want to learn from his experience. He goes into some detail to explain why certain decisions were made, what support he had (both military and political) that helped him keep the Allied forces focused on the overall strategy, how methodical the planning was, how things changed on the ground but yet the overall goals were never lost sight of (despite disagreement at times among his staff and from his civilian Allied bosses). You’ll also get a full accounting of the progress of the war in North Africa and Europe complete with over 40 maps showing key battles and Allied advances, and you'll get some flavor for the personalities around Eisenhower in Allied leadership.

Most of all, you'll get a really good sense of Eisenhower and who he was as a leader from reading this book. I was impressed with his focus on his soldiers - his desire to understand the experience of the soldiers on the front line, his need to gather their input, and the importance he placed on morale and transparent communication (to the extent possible in war) up and down the hierarchy. There are many passages where Eisenhower speaks on leadership that are really good, but these passages are so much a part of his overall narrative of events that I found myself having to pause and reflect every once and awhile to let them sink in.

This book was published in 1948, three years after the end of World War II. The edition I read was put out in 1952. It has Appendices that list the different Army Groups and Divisions of the final offensive. It also has the maps I mentioned above sprinkled throughout the text. But, at the very end of the book is note admitting that it’s missing the footnotes of the original Doubleday edition! So I don’t know how much context I missed by not having those footnotes, but this strikes me as the kind of book where they would have been beneficial. Regardless I found this a very worthwhile read. If you have an interest in World War II, and in Ike’s take on leadership by all means read it. show less

Very interesting. Eisenhower early on gets the media on side. He also focuses on lesser generals (Come on does anyone ACTUALLY know Devers and Hodges were. I didn't. Now the fault. The prose is very dry. In the hands of a better writer Ike's story WOULD have been exciting stuff but not here. Out there is a excellent biography on Eisenhower. This isn't it.

This is the second volume of Eisenhower's presidential memoirs, picking up in mid-1956 where the first volume, Mandate for Change, concludes. Much of the first part of the book is taken up with the Suez Crisis, with Eisenhower skillfully keeping the U.S. Neutral and – in a rarity – not aligning itself with or supporting the actions taken by Britain, France, and Israel. While not immune from criticism, due to his high stature throughout the country and the world, Eisenhower's non-action show more was accepted much better than it would have been had most other presidents done the same thing. show less

Crusade in Europe is an outstanding read for anyone interested in World War Two. Briskly but well written, Eisenhower provides a description of the war through the eyes of the Supreme Allied Commander. The story unfolds in the general's own words and focuses on a wide array of subjects that concerned his command. While the author's accounts of the battles on the Western Front are somewhat brief and rather superficial, the reader is well compensated by the general's illuminating and sometimes show more detailed accounts of problems that the Allies encountered with communications, logistics and strategy. Good writing with only a few morsels of sentimentality, this book provides a unique window into high level decisions in World War Two. show less