Stanley P. Hirshson was a professor in the history department at Queens College from 1963 until his death December 26th, 2003. He published a total of five (5) books. His last book was General Patton: A Soldier’s Life. The book, although written from a civilian’s point of view, was considered the definitive biography of one of the United States most colorful and controversial generals. Many have commented on Hirshson’s writings and don’t always agree with some of his findings, however, the book was well researched and documented. Many sources previously not considered were reviewed by Professor Hirshson. He should be commended on the detail and extent of his research on such man that so much has been written and analyzed. Hirshson, as we will see, went to great lengths to research the “General” and wrote about things previous biographers chose to overlook or not discuss. General George Smith Patton Jr. is certainly a most difficult subject to write about considering his many controversies, his colorful flamboyant style and his philosophy of being…show more content… This is quite evident in the approximately one hundred (100) pages of endnotes. He tells us of the endless hours spent at the US Military Academy at West Point. He points out that many previous writings did not utilize many important and valid sources available at the time of their writing. He specifically mentions one of the most overlooked sources, the Henry E. Huntington Library in California. The library has a vast amount of correspondence of Patton’s father, of his sister and cousins. Another overlooked source was King’s College in London, which was filled with papers of Captain Basil H. Liddell. Captain Liddell wrote about Patton and other American generals. Another forgotten source containing papers of Henry L. Stimson, Hanson W. Baldwin and most importantly John P. Marquand, was the Yale University
