Taking Command

"The crux of the fighting was the place I headed for." -General J. Lawton Collins

Known as "the GI's general" and "Lightning Joe," General J. Lawton Collins played no less than a global part in the Allied victory of World War II.

Here, for the first time, is the story of an American hero and patriot- a man who earned the admiration of the grunts with whom he shared foxholes and the respect of the highest-ranking generals. Collins was a true leader of men with his iron-clad devotion to duty, his genuine concern for those under his command, and his seemingly unending drive to defend his nation against all enemies-no matter where the fight took him...H. Paul Jeffers was a journalist and the author of more than 50 books, including Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.: The Life of a War Hero; Colonel Roosevelt: Theodore Roosevelt Goes to War, 1897–1898; Commissioner Roosevelt; and a true-crime bestseller, Sal Mineo: His Life, Murder, and Mystery. He died in 2009.