This persuasive biography sheds light on the nation's first modern combat commander who set the standard for today's four-star officers. Though the U.S. entered WWI with inadquate forces, in just over a year Pershing had built and hurled a one million man army against forty battle-hardened German divisions, defending the hellish Meuse-Argonne and turning the tide of the war. With focus and clarity, Lacey traces the development of Pershing from Indian fighter, to warrior against the Philippines insurgency, to victorious commander in WWI.