Pershing's Lieutenants details the history of the key leaders working for and with the American Expeditionary Forces Commander-in-Chief General John J. Pershing, several of whom went on to become important figures in World War II.
World War I changed the world. Four ancient dynasties collapsed in the midst of this war, entire societies were radically altered, a plethora of nations were created or given new life, and the map of the Middle East was redrawn. Beyond these cataclysmic transformations, the nature of war itself was forever changed, no longer limited to conflict on the land and sea, but also the air.
The day the United States declared war on Germany, the US Army was only the 17th largest in the world, ranking behind Portugal--the Regular Army had only 128,00 troops, backed up by the National Guard with some 182,000 troops. By the end of the war it had grown to 3,700,000, with slightly more than half that number in Europe. Until the United States did so, no country in all history had tried to deploy a 2-million-man force 3,000 miles from its own borders, a force led by American Expeditionary Forces Commander-in-Chief General John J. Pershing. This was America's first truly modern war, and rising from its ranks was a new generation of leaders who would control the fate of the United States armed forces during the interwar period and into World War II.
This book reveals the history of the key leaders working for and with John J. Pershing during this tumultuous period, including George S. Patton (tank commander and future commander of the US Third Army during World War II); Douglas MacArthur (42nd Division commander and future General of the Army); and Harry S. Truman (artillery battery commander and future President of the United States). Edited by Major General David T. Zabecki (US Army, Retired) and Colonel Douglas V. Mastriano (US Army, Retired), this fascinating title comprises chapters on individual leaders from subject experts across the US, including faculty members of the US Army War College.

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David T. Zabecki (Maj. Gen. Ret) is the author, editor, or translator of seventeen military history books. His encyclopaedia, Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History, won a Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award in 2016. He is editor emeritus of Vietnam Magazine. He holds a PhD in Military History from Britain's Royal Military College of Science, Cranfield University, where his supervisor was the late Professor Richard Holmes. In 2012 he was the Shifrin Distinguished Professor of Military History at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis. He is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the University of Birmingham's War Studies Programme.
Douglas V. Mastriano (Colonel, Retired) is the author of two books, and senior editor and primary contributor to two published strategic studies. His book, Alvin York: A New Biography of the Hero of the Argonne won four awards; William E. Colby Award, Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award, U.S. Army War College Madigan Award and the Carder Family Book Prize. He was a Professor of the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Mastriano has a PhD in Military History from the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada.

“Even after more than a century of analysis, it is surprising how many gaps there are in our understanding of US land forces on the Western Front, so this sparkling collection of essays is especially welcome. A distinguished team of contributors deliver scholarship and controversy in a highly accessible form. Pershing's Lieutenants goes straight onto any list of key books on American military history in the Great War.” —Professor Gary Sheffield, co-director of the First World War Research Group
“The essays in this excellent collection, written by some of the brightest stars in the military history galaxy, shed a new and exciting light on one of the least understood armies of the First World War. It is not just historians who will find them useful, though: today's soldiers, sailors and airmen, too, will learn much from the insights on leadership they offer.” —Dr Jonathan Boff, author of Haig's Enemy: Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany's War on the Western Front
“This is a superb collection of essays by nineteen eminent scholars covering twenty-two American “lieutenants” ranging from Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett to Major Harry S. Truman. From honing technical skills to alliance building, the “lieutenants” struggled to master a deadly battlefield. The writing is crisp, the analysis critical, and the tone compassionate. The book is a welcome complement to Douglas Southall Freeman's Lee's Lieutenants, Steven Woodworth's Grant's Lieutenants, and Russell Weigley's Eisenhower's Lieutenants.” —Holger H. Herwig, Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary
“Behind every great captain of war stand typically over-looked but essential lieutenants, who enable the planning and conduct of operations made famous by their superior commander. This new volume, expertly edited by David T. Zabecki and Douglas V. Mastriano, brings Pershing's illustrious and largely-forgotten subordinates out of the shadows into the limelight they deserve.” —Major General Mungo Melvin CB OBE, British Army (Retired)
“April 1917 saw the U.S. military largely unprepared for participation in World War I. In this important study edited by Douglas V. Mastriano and David T. Zabecki, and bound to be required reading for military officers, 19 military historians trace the service of, and lessons learned, in that conflict by 22 key figures from future Army chiefs of staff and Marine Corps commandants, to specialists and regimental commanders.” —Professor Spencer C. Tucker, John Biggs Chair of Military History (Ret.), Virginia Military Institute
“A major contribution to the history of World War I.” —Williamson Murray, Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University
"Pershing’s Lieutenants is a valuable re-source for those interested in the U.S. contribution to victory in World War I." - Military History
"Pershing’s Lieutenants is an ideal first book for anyone interested in the US contribution to WWI and the officer corps of the American Expeditionary Force." - Jörg Muth, Author of ‘Command Culture’