Book description
A valued adviser and trusted insider in the highest echelon of U. S.
military and political leaders, General Walter Bedell Smith began his
public service career of more than forty years at age sixteen, when he
joined the Indiana National Guard. His bulldog tenacity earned him an
opportunity to work with General George C. Marshall in 1941, playing
an essential role in forming the offices of the Combined and Joint
Chiefs of Staff; and after his appointment as chief of staff to Dwight
D. Eisenhower in 1942, Smith took a central part in planning and
orchestrating the major Allied operations of World War II in Europe.
Among his many duties, Smith negotiated and signed the surrenders of
the Italian and German armed forces on May 7, 1945.
Smith's postwar career included service as the U. S. ambassador to
the Soviet Union, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and
undersecretary of state. Despite his contributions to
twentieth-century American military and diplomatic history, the life
and work of Smith have largely gone unappreciated. In Beetle: The Life
of General Walter Bedell Smith, D. K. R. Crosswell offers the first
full-length biography of the general, including insights into his
close relationships with Marshall and Eisenhower.
Meticulously researched and long overdue, Beetle sheds new light on
Eisenhower as supreme commander and the campaigns in North Africa,
Italy, and Europe. Beetle is the fascinating history of a soldier,
diplomat, and intelligence chief who played a central role in many
decisions that altered mid-twentieth-century American history.
""This definitive bio of Ike's chief of staff chronicles
his many pivotal (and, the author argues, vastly underrated and
misunderstood) role."--World War II" --
D. K. R. Crosswell is Richard R. Hallock Distinguished University
Chair in Military History at Columbus State University, Georgia. He is
the author of The Chief of Staff: The Military Career of General
Walter Bedell Smith.
