Awards

• Commended for Benjamin Franklin Award (Biography/Autobiography) 2023

Overview

"2023 Silver Winner - Benjamin Franklin Awards (Biography & Autobiography) ""A masterpiece of seminal research, Lady of the Army is an extraordinary, detailed, and unique biography of a remarkable woman married to a now legendary American military leader in both World War I and World War II."" -Midwest Book Review If anyone considered an army wife to be merely the kite's tail, Beatrice Ayer Patton had the perfect retort, ""How high can a kite soar without its tail?"" General George Patton once remarked that World War II undoubtedly would have lasted a lot longer were it not for his soldiers and his wife. Those who knew the Pattons were aware of the vital role Beatrice played in his reaching his destiny, but few others understood the singular impact of this remarkable woman whom people described as having ""a personality which radiates like a brilliant gem."" The arduous army life was alien to Beatrice growing up on Boston's Commonwealth Avenue, but her adventurous spirit and insatiable curiosity allowed her to adapt quickly. She became an immediate asset to her husband's career and continuously fanned the flames of his burning ambition, walking beside him on his path to glory while maintaining her own identity. As comfortable on the back of a magnificent steed as at the helm of a great schooner, she became an authority on Hawaiian legends while stationed on the islands twice. Called ""a triumph"" by Joanne Holbrook Patton and hailed for its extensive research and factual reporting, Lady of the Army straddles the line between the home and war fronts, and tells the story of Beatrice Ayer Patton, the woman who shaped the man, fortified the soldier, and created the legend."

Full Product Details

9798986928005

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Reviews

A unique book in the military biography field, Steelandt does a masterful job detailing the life of Beatrice Ayer Patton, General George S. Patton's wife. More than just the wife of a famous general adding to George's career and reputation and maintaining it after his death, Beatrice was also a successful writer and sportswoman of her own. Lady of the Army is an enjoyably readable book about an important woman of the 20th century, as well as an academic book with extensive references and background. -Ross Rojek, Manhattan Book Review George S. Patton needs no introduction. He was a towering figure, so much so that his wife and her role in his greatness have been quite overshadowed. Van Steelandt, an independent long-term scholar of biography, has produced an impressive and exhaustively researched work that corrects this anomaly. -Anne Green, Eating My Words Contrary to most biographies of military men and women, WW2 and George S. Patton's role in it...didn't become the book's sole focus. Instead, the author aims to show Beatrice Ayer Patton as a separate individual who was much more than the wife of her famous husband. With a passion for her heroine, the author describes Beatrice's struggles of consciously living in the shadow of an ambitious yet diffident man like George Smith Patton. Reedsy Discovery

Author Information

An independent scholar and blogger who spent the last twenty years studying biography, Stefanie Van Steelandt grew up near Belgium's Liberty Road, which General Patton and his Third Army followed during WWII. She currently lives in New York City, where she enjoys cooking and immersing herself in the city's art world.

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