Patton - Fernando del Castillo Duran

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Résumé :
George S. Patton was an outstanding military leader and an extraordinarily controversial figure who transformed modern warfare to a large extent. A brilliant strategist, his tactical genius and audacity were decisive in the Allied victory on the Western Front during World War II. From North Africa to the heart of the Reich, his campaigns at the helm of the US Third Army became master classes in speed, maneuver, and operational effectiveness. Fernando del Castillo exhaustively traces his entire military career: from his formative years at West Point and his first combat experience in Mexico to his pioneering role at the head of the first US tank units in the Great War. The author also examines the crucial interwar period, when Patton developed his revolutionary theories on mechanized warfare, which he would later put into practice with devastating effectiveness. THE GENERAL WHO PRAYED FOR VICTORY AND WROTE POETRY ABOUT WAR. Beyond the military strategist, surprising and little-known aspects emerge: his participation in the 1912 Olympic Games, the design of a sword that bore his name and was adopted by the US Army, his role as a poet, and his peculiar relationship with the divine. He was a complex personality capable of combining the brutality of war with remarkable literary sensitivity and an unusual knowledge of the classics. We discover the man behind the myth: a general in whom deep religiosity coexisted with foul language, and a certain classical erudition went hand in hand with a direct command style, along with unshakeable self-confidence in moments of intimate doubt. Through unpublished documents, direct testimonies, and his own diary, an accurate portrait is painted, different from the usual one presented by Anglo-Saxon scholars, of one of the most charismatic and effective commanders in contemporary military history....

Biographie:
Fernando del Castillo Dur?n (Barcelona, 1961) es catedr?tico y doctor en Hisp?nicas, miembro de la asociaci?n Historiadors de Catalu?a - Antonio de Campmany, premio Foro Espa?a en 2022, y del CEAC (Centro de Estudios de la Am?rica Colonial), dependiente de la UAB. Asistente al curso en Estudios de la Guerra por Edutin Academy, Estados Unidos. Ha publicado La desaparici?n de Hitler (Sekotia, 2022), La invenci?n de Vulcano (Rialp, 2020) y las novelas El librero de Cordes (Piel de Zapa, 2014), Memoria de la niebla (Editorial Montesinos, 2010), El sable torcido del general (Montesinos, 2006) y El organista de Montmartre (Montesinos, 2005), habiendo obtenido el premio ?mbito Literario por Lepsis en 1985. En marzo de 2021, public? Sobre las generaciones de la guerra. Correcciones a William S. Lind (Ej?rcitos, revista digital sobre defensa, armamento y fuerzas armadas). Ha sido distinguido por Desperta Ferro en el concurso de Microensayo 2024 con la publicaci?n de Gonzalo Guerrero, el Orfeo espa?ol, y La academia renacentista de Hern?n Cort?s. Posee un largo recorrido de ensayos en revistas especializadas entre los que destacan Fray Antonio de Valdivieso como eco de las guerras de los encomenderos (2022), El perd?n real como instituci?n en la guerra de Sucesi?n espa?ola (2022), Rasgos novel?sticos de Gonzalo Fern?ndez de Oviedo en el naufragio de Alonso de Zuazo (2021), El elogio f?nebre de Montesquieu al duque de Berwick (2020), Iconograf?a del pr?ncipe Eugenio de Saboya (2019), Juan L?pez de Velasco, la 'Descripci?n universal' y otros oficios sutiles (2018), D?jame, Leila, atravesar los mares. Breves notas acerca de Zorrilla en M?xico a dos siglos de su nacimiento (2018), Antonio Machado en el II Congreso de Intelectuales Antifascistas: falt?ndole el respeto a la divinidad (2011), La constituci?n hist?rica del h?roe: el caso de Hern?n Cort?s en la Conquista de M?xico de Francisco L?pez de G?mara (1993) y Fernando Cort?s y la configuraci?n literaria del h?roe (1992), adem?s de varios ensayos acerca de la evoluci?n hist?rico-ortogr?fica del espa?ol. En la actualidad trabaja en un magno proyecto que denomina segundo siglo XX, es decir, la Guerra Fr?a, adem?s de avanzar en La circularidad del mundo, bosquejo novel?stico en torno a sucesos ocurridos en la Espa?a del primer siglo XX....