A SOLDIER'S STORY

Not since the publication of General Eisenhower's in Europe has any war history been so eagerly anticipated as this rightly titled A Soldier's Story. A long book, closely reasoned and fully detailed, this gives the reader the sense of being on the inside with a very human, likable individual, who tells of those portions of the war in which he took part, with honesty, perspicacity, and a keen sense of pace and drama. Somehow one does not miss the expanded andote that is characteristic of some such records. The text abounds in human interest bits, pointed characterizations, keen appraisals of situations and the relations -- now harmonious, now tense, among top brass at both headquarters and combat level. There's definite news value in Bradley's handling of some of the issues:-disciplinary measures, matters of troop morale, conflict in viewpoint and prestige between British and American officers and troops, problems of interservice training (the Navy may have its feelings injured, and the Air Force does not come off unscathed). Probably the causes of mounting tension between Montgomery and Bradley will be of particular interest to readers who remember charges made in other books. General Bradley makes no bones of his feeling that at sundry times, Montgomery's delaying tactics changed the overall plan of attack. He walks cautiously in his description of the two weeks' wait and ultimate meeting with the Humaans. One could wish for more on this belatedly controversial issue. In final analysis, this seems a wise and winning book, portraying a great man and a great soldier whose modesty subordinate his own contribution to victory, his own relations with the officers and men who served under him... serialization will use about one fifth of the book. It for all students of strategy and military procedure, and vigorous enough in the telling to hld the interest of the average layman. Book of the Month.