Tubby Volume 24

Stephen A. Bourque is professor emeritus of military history at the School of Advanced Military Studies, Army University, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. A retired US Army officer, he is the author of The Road to Safwan: The 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry in the 1991 Persian Gulf War (UNT Press) and Beyond the Beach: The Allied War against France.

"This biography would serve as a great guide to staff rides conducted in Europe, to include the D-Day invasion, Operation Cobra, the penetration of the Siegfried Line and the Battle of the Bulge. Bourque's descriptions of the 4th Infantry Division's part in all these events is lucid, well researched and compelling. I highly recommend this book for military leaders of all ranks and for anyone interested in Army history. Its research is impeccable, and Bourque's assessments are logical and well-defended. It is a great addition to understanding high-level leadership."--Col. James Scott Wheeler, U.S. Army retired, ARMY Magazine "As an expert on operational art and US Army doctrine, Bourque brings a unique analytical skill to this biography. Barton commanded the 4th Infantry Division, one of the divisions that landed in Normandy on D-Day. This alone makes Tubby original and important, but the book is also an excellent model for a WWII division commander's biography/military life. Unlike many works on WWII leaders, this book does not suffer from an excessive focus on strategic and high-operational level command and the difficult personalities of senior leaders. Instead, it gives the reader a detailed image of both the day-to-day life of a WWII division commander and the intensive training required to prepare an officer for division command. As Bourque explains, command at the high tactical level was more direct, more dangerous, and more physically and mentally demanding than many readers probably realize, and the casualty rates among regimental through division-level leaders would probably surprise many."--Mark Calhoun, senior historian at the National World War II Museum and author of General Lesley J. McNair: Unsung Architect of the US Army "Tubby will have great significance as a model for the division/corps level bio. The lesson: it is still possible to find totally unique, or rare, or personal sources that open a whole new vista over well-trodden ground, especially about the Normandy Campaign and just how bloody it was, the leadership of Lawton Collins, the work of staffs and lots of other noncombat activities at war, regiment/battalion-level tactics, and the uses of the division in operational arts at corps and army level. The author knows these things as soldier and teacher."--Steven L. Ossad, author of Omar Nelson Bradley: America's GI General, 1893-1981 "Tubby is a MUST READ for the Field Grade officers who run our brigades, divisions, and corps. It's not just the leadership lessons that make this book powerful, but thinking about how a division fits into a larger fight. It is difficult to conceive and visualize that fight within the context of the forever wars. Bourque does an incredible job describing that fight within the life of one commander. And despite the author's protestations, this book is as much about 'Tubby' Barton as a person and leader, as it is about the 4th Infantry Division's exploits in WWII. I cannot recommend this incredibly captivating story about a WWII division commander enough. Go grab a copy."--Goodreads