Patton: The Pursuit of Destiny
By Agostino Von Hassell
Reviewed by Martha Artyomenko
Gen. George Patton. We have all heard stories of him, if we listened to our grandparents. This book gives an inside look to the way he grew up, and from a christian perspective. This man was a complex blend of battle- tested strengths and nearly fatal personal flaws.
So, this book, talks about his struggle with being embarrassed of growing up in poverty. He loved guns, riding horses, and holding pretend battles with his friends. However, his father had some ideas that we would probably call “unschooling” now. He did not believe reading and writing were essential foundations, so while he was read to aloud, he did not learn how to read until he was 12 years old. Many writers have assumed he had dyslexia, as he always struggled with reading and never learned to spell, but loved math, and history.
After struggling though West point, he did have some things going for him. He had learned how to listen when being read to as a young child. I wonder if that had something to do with his successes in battle.
While I still probably will admire him for his battle prowess in the War, I think this helped me understand why he had some of those undesirable qualities that bothered so many of his men.
He was for sure a very interesting man!
