Roosevelt and Marshall

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Brigadier general George C. Marshall became Army chief of staff in 1939 and proved adept at working with Congress, a skill that complemented President Franklin D. Roosevelt's dominance of wartime strategy. ``In his excellent `tandem' biography, Parrish conveys the enormous accomplishments of two very different men and their invaluable service as a team throughout most of WW II,'' said PW. Photos. Aug.

Library Journal

This is a study of the human dimensions of a relationship Parrish regards as seminal. If Roosevelt remained from first to last in control of America's war effort, he also saw the need for counsel. During the war, he turned in particular to General George C. Marshall. Marshall's horizons were broader, his abilities greater, than those of his counterparts among the Joint Chiefs. At the same time, he believed his ultimate duty involved implementing rather than challenging the will of his commander in chief. Roosevelt expanded Marshall's roles, fostering his development into a soldier-statesman--and setting, Parrish argues, a dangerous precedent for involving military men in policy-making. The thesis remains unproven in a book whose narrative strengths nonetheless supplement such works as Eric Larrabee's Commander in Chief ( LJ 5/1/87).-- Dennis E. Showalter, Colorado Coll., Colorado Springs