General GEORGE S. PATTON, Jr., kept a full diary from July, 1942, until December 05, 1945, four days before his fatal accident. His entries sometimes were made while the froth and emotion of battle were still upon him. They are always candid, frequently critical, and occasionally caustic, though they never are savage in the sense that they damn everybody who did not agree with him. The spirit of the diary is that of a commander who believed that a continuous hold offensive would end the war before the snow fell on the Ardennes in the winter of 1944-45. Every obstacle to such an offensive has to be overcome; every leader who opposed it must be challenged to show why the drive would not succeed, silence or dissent appeared in Patton's eyes an over caution or concession to Allies.

This dominant tone of General Patton's diary is so unmistakable and so clearly patriotic that it will not be misunderstood by historians, but because General Patton used words as he employed fire - to get decisive results quickly - he said many things in his diary that would hurt the feelings of individuals whose devotion and ability he would be quick to acknowledge.

General Patton had unfailing humour, soldierly-sharp powers of observation and interest that ranged from horses and yachts to archaeology and ethnology. 'War As I Knew it' represents a type of early narrative that has a place in historiography of the Second World War.