Carlo D'Este

Carlo W. D'Este
Born	(1936-08-29)August 29, 1936 Oakland, California, US
Died	Cape Cod, Massachusetts, US
Education	New Mexico Military Institute junior college, 1956 Norwich University magna cum laude, 1958 University of Richmond master's, 1974
Occupation	Military historian Biographer Military officer
Title	Lieutenant Colonel, USA (Ret.)
Spouse(s)	Shirley
Children	four
Notes

Carlo D'Este (1936 – November 22, 2020) was an American military historian and biographer, author of several books, especially on World War II. He was a decorated U.S. Army lieutenant colonel. In 2011, he was awarded the Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing.

D'Este died at the age of 84 in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Education

D'Este attended New Mexico Military Institute junior college in 1956. He received his B.A. (magna cum laude) from Norwich University in 1958, an M.A. from the University of Richmond in 1974, and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Norwich in 1992. He received his master's from University of Richmond in 1974 and then attended University of London under the G.I. bill.

Career and other work

• Military historian and biographer, 1978–present
• Member of Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee
• Honorary member, Board of Fellows of Norwich University
• President of the Friends of Norwich Library
• Elected trustee of Mashpee Public Library, Mashpee, Massachusetts for 21 years
• United States Army, tours of duty in Germany and Vietnam, retired as lieutenant colonel, 1978.
• Lecturer at School of Advanced Military Studies, United States Army Command and General Staff College
• Founded (with W.E.B. Griffin) the William E. Colby Military Writers' Symposium (1996). That organization presents the Colby Award.
• Advised President of the United States Bill Clinton on his visit to Italy, England, and Normandy (1994)

A&E adapted his biography of George S. Patton to television for its Biography (TV series) (and, presumably, its Biography Channel) in 1995. In 1996, C-SPAN interviewed him about that book on its Booknotes program.

Awards and honors

He was awarded the Andrew J. Goodpaster Prize by the American Veterans Center, 2010.

He delivered the annual Kemper Lecture on Winston Churchill at Westminster, College, Fulton, Missouri, 2010.

In 2011, he received the $100,000 Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. The award includes an honorarium, citation and medallion, sponsored by the Chicago-based Tawani Foundation. As part of the award, he gave an interview at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on October 21, 2011, reflecting on his writing career in the field of World War II scholarship.

Writings

• Decision in Normandy: The Unwritten Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign, Dutton (New York, NY), 1983. ISBN 9780060924959
• Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, 1943, Dutton (New York, NY), 1988. ISBN 9780525244714
• World War II in the Mediterranean, 1942–1945, Algonquin (Chapel Hill, NC), 1990. ISBN 9780945575047
• Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1991. ISBN 9780060158903
• Patton: A Genius for War, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 1995. ISBN 9780060164553
• Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life, 1890–1945, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2002. ISBN 9780805056860
• (introduction to) "Sicilia 1943. Lo sbarco alleato" by Ezio Costanzo (author), Le Nove Muse Editrice (Catania, Italy), 2003
• (introduction to) Battle, the Story of the Bulge, John Toland, Random House (New York, NY), 1959
• (contributor to) Few Returned: Twenty-eight Days on the Russian Front, Winter 1942–1943, edited by Eugenio Corti, University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 1997.
• Review of Rising '44. The Battle for Warsaw, by Norman Davies.

Decorations

• Hall of Fame, New Mexico Military Institute, 2002
• Norwich University, D.H.L., 1992
• Board of Fellows Service Medallion, Norwich University, 2008

	Legion of Merit
106px	Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster
120px	Meritorious Service Medal
	Army Commendation Medal

Further reading

• American Historical Review, October 1992, Alan F. Wilt, review of Fatal Decision: Anzio and the Battle for Rome, pp. 1304–1305.
• Book, July–August, 2002, Philip Gerard, "A Gentleman and an Officer: Before Dwight Eisenhower Became a National Hero, He Was a Little-Known Soldier, " p. 26.
• Booklist, May 1, 2002, Gilbert Taylor, review of Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life, 1890–1945, p. 1489.
• Choice, December 1990, P. L. De Rosa, review of World War II in the Mediterranean, 1942–1945, p. 683.
• Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2002, review of Eisenhower, p. 632.
• Fraser, David London Review of Books, Vol 5 No 24, December 22, 1983, "Montgomeries" pp. 7–8 (a review of Decision in Normandy: The Unwritten Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign - subscription required for full access)
• London Review of Books, May 26, 1994, review of Decision in Normandy, p. 3.
• National Review, August 12, 2002, Victor Davis Hanson, "Soldier of Contrasts, " p. 49.
• The New York Times, September 8, 1988, review of Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, 1943, p. C21.
• The New York Times Book Review, January 22, 1984, review of Decision in Normandy, p. 10
• New York Times Book Review, November 27, 1988, Walter Lord, review of Bitter Victory, p. 18
• New York Times Book Review, July 21, 1991, review of Fatal Decision
• New York Times Book Review, p. 27; December 10, 1995, Alistair Horne, review of Patton: A Genius for War
• New York Times Book Review, pp. 9, 11; July 28, 2002, Timothy Naftali, "The Hardest Job in the Longest Day, " p. 8.
• Publishers Weekly, October 14, 1983, review of Decision in Normandy, p. 51
• Publishers Weekly, July 1, 1988, review of Bitter Victory, pp. 61–62
• Publishers Weekly, April 12, 1991, review of Fatal Decision, p. 51
• Publishers Weekly, April 15, 2002, review of Eisenhower, p. 49.
• Times Literary Supplement, September 16, 1988, Michael Carver, review of Bitter Victory, p. 1022
• Times Literary Supplement, September 6, 1991, Michael Howard, review of Fatal Decision, pp. 11–12
• Times Literary Supplement, June 10, 1994, review of Decision in Normandy, p. 33.
• The Wall Street Journal, December 8, 1995, Mark Yost, review of Patton, p. A10
• The Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2002, Max Boot, "Less to Like about Ike, " p. W12.*

External links

• Carlo D'Este from HarperCollins Publishers Publisher's biographic sketch
• Patton, Harper Perennial, Carlo D'este, Book - Barnes & Noble Bookseller's biographical sketch
• Carlo D'Este Interview and biography at The Pritzker Military Museum & Library from February 8, 2007
• Appearances on C-SPAN
  • In Depth interview with D'Este, July 6, 2003
• Interview on Warlord: a life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945 at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on November 13, 2008
• Webcast Panel on U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower with Geoffrey Perret at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on October 23, 2003