Book: Killing Patton

Overview
Killing Patton, by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard, investigates the mysterious circumstances surrounding General George S. Patton's death in late 1945 and situates that event within the sweep of his extraordinary military career. The narrative blends biographical detail, battlefield drama, and a forensic-style inquiry that raises the prospect Patton's fatal injury may have been no accident. The book aims to be both a portrait of a singular American general and a provocative reexamination of an unresolved historical episode.

Patton's life and reputation
George S. Patton emerges as a vivid, paradoxical figure: brilliant, audacious, and often volatile. The book sketches his formative years, his rise through two world wars, and the tactical genius that delivered numerous victories in North Africa and Europe. It emphasizes his blistering drive, theatrical persona, and a penchant for candid, sometimes inflammatory statements that repeatedly put him at odds with political leaders and allied commanders.

The accident and medical aftermath
On December 9, 1945, near Mannheim, Germany, Patton's staff car collided with a U.S. Army truck, and the general suffered injuries that seemed superficial at first glance. Transported to a hospital in Heidelberg, he was diagnosed with a broken neck and pegged as largely paralyzed, though conscious. On December 21 he died of a pulmonary embolism; no autopsy was performed. O'Reilly and Dugard detail the timeline of the crash, the treatment Patton received, and the rapid sealing of official reports that left many questions unanswered.

Theories and alleged evidence
The authors marshal a range of anomalies and eyewitness accounts to argue that the crash and its aftermath merit suspicion. They point to gaps and inconsistencies in official records, conflicting testimony about the circumstances at the accident scene, the lack of an autopsy, and a pattern of odd coincidences linked to individuals and institutions that might have had motive to silence Patton. Central to their thesis is Patton's strident anti-Communist stance and his clashes with allied leadership, which the authors suggest could have made him a target in the fraught postwar power struggle.

Narrative approach and sources
Killing Patton reads like investigative journalism crossed with popular narrative history. The authors rely on primary documents, interviews, memoirs, and contemporaneous reporting, but present material through a cinematic lens aimed at tension and revelation. That approach accentuates dramatic possibilities and foregrounds tantalizing leads, even when those leads remain circumstantial or debated among scholars.

Reception and continuing debate
The book became a bestseller and reignited public interest in Patton's final days, but it also provoked criticism. Many historians and veterans challenge the assassination hypothesis, arguing that available medical and documentary evidence better supports the official account of an accident followed by complications. Skeptics fault selective sourcing and an inclination toward sensationalism, while supporters praise the book for probing unresolved questions and spotlighting bureaucratic opacity. Whatever one's view, Killing Patton has contributed to an ongoing conversation about accountability, wartime politics, and how history weighs the line between coincidence and conspiracy.