Team America

Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, Eisenhower, and the World They Forged

By: Robert L. O'Connell

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Length: 21 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

From national bestselling author and acclaimed military historian Robert L. O’Connell, a dynamic history of four military leaders whose extraordinary leadership and strategy led the United States to success during World War I and beyond.

By the first half of the twentieth century, technology had transformed warfare into a series of intense bloodbaths in which the line between soldiers and civilians was obliterated, resulting in the deaths of one hundred million people. During this period, four men exhibited unparalleled military leadership that led the United States victoriously through two World Wars: Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, George Marshall, and Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower; or, as bestselling author Robert O’Connell calls them, Team America.

O’Connell captures these men’s unique charisma as he chronicles the path each forged—from their upbringings to their educational experiences to their storied military careers—experiences that shaped them into majestic leaders who would play major roles in saving the free world and preserving the security of the United States in times of unparalleled danger. O’Connell shows how the lives of these men—all born within the span of a decade—twisted around each other like a giant braid in time. Throughout their careers, they would use each other brilliantly in a series of symbiotic relationships that would hold increasingly greater consequences.

At the end of their star-studded careers (twenty-four out of a possible twenty-five), O’Connell concludes that what set Team America apart was not their ability to wield the proverbial sword, but rather their ability to plot strategy, give orders, and inspire others. The key ingredients to their success was mental agility, a gravitas that masked their intensity, and an almost intuitive understanding of how armies in the millions actually functioned and fought. Without the leadership of these men, O’Connell makes clear, the world we know would be vastly different.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2022 Robert L. O'Connell (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Insight to our greatest general

I liked seeing how they thought. Behind-the-scenes was an interesting listen. Separated truth from myth.

The very best

Robert O’Connell is the best military historian you’ve never heard of. His biography of General Sherman was excellent and Team America is another book that will keep you listening and listening and listening.

Outstanding

Very well-done, especially given it ambitiously tries to cover three icons. Only complaint is there may be a little to much emphasis on their sex lives. Disregard the review that implies it is somehow negative about them and the USA. It is very balanced. A good history doesn't require "The Star-Spangled Banner" playing in the background. Well worth a credit.

Evan's Review

Good book on the four of the most famous Generals in American History. It is amazing how these happen to be had come up the ranks of the US Army to be available for command at critical period in our history. Each was different in personality,strengths and weaknesses but had the understanding of what goals were to win. I highly recommend the book.

Well told modern take on giants

Page turner even when you think you know the stories. Great read or listen.

Great historical perspective…..

…..on our real “Four Horsemen”. Concise details on their backgrounds, military careers, and post-military lives. Great listen!

AVOID. Don't waste your credits here.

NOT a serious book. Author has a strange, childish fascination with the puppet/cartoon movie "Team America," and routinely refers back to it, even placing quotes from the movie alongside those from the book's principals. I enjoyed watching that movie, but have never foolishly mistaken it for a yardstick of national leadership.  Couple that with incessant sophomoric sports analogies and you can readily grasp the intellectual level of the book and author.

Nothing new here of any value. Book contains nothing that hasn't already appeared in a slew of secondary sources for many decades.  Factual errors are not difficult to find. There is one new thing I should point out, though - - for many years, serious biographers have accepted the well-known fact of Patton's dyslexia. This guy has decided on his own, without medical evidence, that Patton actually had ADHD instead. A new diagnosis over 120 years since Patton's childhood, determined by someone lacking medical credentials. Take that for what it's worth, along with the remainder of the book. And the author can scarcely mention Patton without working in a direct insult. Why feature the man in a book if you can't discuss him respectfully? Finally, the author's chummy habit of addressing the objects of his book by their first names or nicknames only gets increasingly annoying. Occasional attempts at analysis are generally shallow, facile, and largely irrelevant.

The reader does a good job with the material given him, though he likes to put on phony accents when reading quotes.

NOT recommended. Look elsewhere for serious works of history.

dissappinted

While this book may shed some light on historical facts, it takes a decidedly negative view of the people involved. It seems more of a long-winded tear down of historical figures than anything else. It runs down the path of our modern revisionist thinking to villainize the heroes of the past and create a kind of negative attitude in the minds of this present generation, an attitude of the past is a lie, forget about those losers. Truth is all heroes are flawed mortal men and women who in spite of their imperfections, failures, still rose to the challenges before them and accomplished great things, lead great victories to restore peace and freedom to the world. Who rebuilt Europe after the destruction of WW II? it's was the USA. who prevented the USSR from taking over all of Germany after the war? The USA. Are we perfect? Of course not. But we used to celebrate the best in people. This generation only wants to tear them down, focus on the sins, the faults, the short comings. Too bad. It could have been a great book.

Great book couple of discrepancies

I enjoyed the book, learned a trove of knowledge from it. However, did notice a couple discrepancies in a few different historical accounts. Obviously everyone has their own biases about history, would get again.