Heroes Never Die by Martin Blumenson

Review written by Don Fox [Sun Jul 19, 2009 5:28 pm] Martin Blumenson has had a lengthy and tremendously well-respected career as a military historian. His work on the critically acclaimed two-volume "The Patton Papers" placed him at the forefront of experts on the subject of General Patton (a subject that he has been close to ever since serving on Patton's staff during the latter part of WWII). Serious students of military history will have ready knowledge of Blumenson's contributions to the "green book" series of official US Army WWII histories (notably, "Breakout & Pursuit" and "Salerno to Cassino").

In addition his numerous books, Mr. Blumenson has been a prolific contributor to various periodicals (especially "Army", the monthly magazine of the Association ofthe United States Army). Most of these articles and essays have not been readily accessible to the general population. With the release of his latest book, "Heroes Never Die", this has been rectified.

"Heroes" is a smart collection of 50 essays (four of which have been written for this work; the balance have been previously published in one form or another). The topics cover a broad range. Some deal with specific battles (e.g., Kasserine, Anzio, the seige of St. Malo), while others deal with personalities (e.g., the relationship between Patton and Bradley). It is not surprising that Patton makes frequent appearances. The 20 page biographical essay on Patton is superbly written, and there is no better place to point someone who wants a quality, easily consumed profile. The more detailed essay that examines Patton's writings as a student at the Army War College is riveting, as it lays the foundation for Patton's thought process for making war.

Blumenson also ventures into areas further from the specialties that he is normally associated with. His essay titled "Will Ultra Rewrite History", originally published in 1978, offers great insight into the splash that occured within the historian community when details of Ultra were finally made public. Much history had been written without the knowledge of the role Ultra played, and Blumenson provides a professional historian's insight into just how far back he and his peers would have to step in order to reexamine all that had been written. His conclusions in that regard are convincing and compelling.

Some topics receive an unconventional twist. For example, his essay on the battle at Monte Cassino contains, as its predominant focus, a dicussion on the necessity for bombing the historic abbey.

Some of the pieces also focus on the post-war development of the United states military. Some of these essays were written in the 60 s and 70s, and as we sit here now and read them in the next century, we find that Blumenson had very keen foresight. His prognostications are on the money, and when you read them in light of the situation we face today in Iraq, you would think they were written yesterday.... not 20, 30, or 40 years ago.

The only distraction I found while consuming the book is that there is some repetition of certain facts and ideas. Each piece was written for a stand-alone purpose, so one might find that two or more different essays dealing with a similar topic (e.g., some aspects of the campaign in Italy) contain very similar preambles. But this is a small price to pay for the benefit of having on hand such an extensive collection of Blumenson's writings, presented in their entirety. One appealing aspect of the book is that, due to its nature, one need not feel compelled to sit and read it cover to cover. The essays are presented chronologically (based on their date of original publication). This is the type of work that you can leave out on your desk, and when the urge strikes, visit the essay of your choice for a quick read. The variety of topics is such that just about everyone will find something of interest.

Don Fox