SOURCE: "Peppery Paladin," in National Review, Vol. 24, No. 2, April 14, 1972, pp. 407-8.

In the following essay, a review of The Patton Papers, 1885-1940, Bakshian applauds editor Martin Blumenson for allowing Patton's own words to control the direction of the narrative.

There was far more to General George S. Patton Jr. than met the eye. Fortunately, much of it can now be found in this massive edition of the Patton papers. From his earliest years America's most peppery paladin was a chronic scribbler. By the time of his death, there were enough notebooks, letters, diaries, essays, lectures and articles to fill over fifty filing cabinets—perhaps the richest lode of source material left behind by any of the giants of World War II, and certainly the most candid.

Patton's personality was an odd blend of Victorian idealism and primitive knight errantry, with a good shot of flatulent Wagnerian posturing thrown...