Daniel P. Bolger Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Leavenworth Papers Books

Daniel P. Bolger is an American historian, author, and retired Lieutenant General of the United States Army. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 15, 1957.

He has a special faculty appointment at North Carolina State University in the Department of History, teaching students military history. He retired from the Army in 2013 after finishing thirty-five years of service. During this course of time, he received several accolades and awards. He earned five Bronze Star Medals, one of which was for valor, and a Combat Action Badge.

He has held notable military commands such as serving as the Commanding General of the Combined Security Transition Command in Afghanistan and was the Commander of the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2013. He was Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas and was deployed to Baghdad from 2009 to 2010.

Bolger was also part of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team in Iraq from 2005 to 2006 and was the U.S. Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations.

Daniel has also written several books that readers might know him for, including Americans at War, Why We Lost, The Battle for Hunger Hill, and Death Ground.

Why We Lost: A General’s Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars is a 2014 book by Daniel P. Bolger. This is a behind the scenes look at the U.S. as it was at war after 9/11 and what it was employing, whether it was combat on the ground or high level strategy in a nonfiction book that nonfiction fans will be sure to find interesting.

Daniel has spent thirty-five years in the military and during that time he rose through the ranks to be a three star general and commanded in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. He more than many others was able to witness the full nature of these wars all the way from the events of September 11th to withdrawing from the region.

He participated in high level planning and strategy meetings but was also boots on the ground, carrying a rifle frequently on his person while being alongside the soldiers in their combat actions. Bolger takes on the events of this time period from the view point of someone who was actively there.

This makes the impact of his argument all the more effective– he is putting forth that the U.S. did lose in Iraq and Afghanistan, but this is also something that did not need to happen. Intelligence ended up getting garbled and there were also key decision makers that were impeded by spreadsheets or theories.

Bolger also contends that the U.S. did not ever fully come to understand the enemy. The book is titled Why We Lost, and it is an incredibly readable account of what happened from the point of view of Bolger. A unique and compelling book that nonfiction and history fans will not want to miss.

The Panzer Killers: The Untold Story of a Fighting General and His Spearhead Tank Division’s Charge into the Third Reich is a 2021 book by Daniel P. Bolger. If you’re familiar with the works of this author, you know that the general turned historian is one of the best authors in the nonfiction genre today.

This book in particular goes into the battlefield heroic actions of Major General Maurice Rose, who served as a tank commander in World War II and whose 3rd Armored Division was so formidable that it was even able to scare Hitler’s panzer crews. The Wall Street Journal praised this work, saying that it is ‘a great book, vividly written and shrewdly observed’.

It was just 2 months following D-Day that the Allies discovered that they were in a stalemate in Normandy. They had already endured a lot of casualties in their attempt to try and push through hedgerow country. The troops were exhausted and the American tankers were losing their sense of spirit as they did not have the leadership or the tactics to adapt with the terrain.

General George Patton and the other top commanders required the type of officer who could break all of this up and generate the momentum to steamroll the Germans. This meant that they needed a man who had the vision and the Grit to advance the war to the Rhine and they knew that Maurice Rose was the man for the job. Patton and his peers selected him for this task.

Rose is someone who never brought up his Jewish heritage even though his father was a rabbi. However, it was easy to see from his ferocious nature on the battlefield that he had an ‘inner flame’. He chose to lead the 3rd Armored Division from the first vehicle in the formation and boldly participated in the charge instead of advising from a command post.

Rose came up with innovative tactics, did his best to contend with the American weapons, and selected the cadre of officers that drove the division forward. Whether it was at Normandy or the West Wall or the Battle of the Bulge, or even the final push across Germany, Rose’s tank division proved to be deadly and his approach effective. They were able to blast through the lines of the enemy and pursue them with an intensity that had not been present previously.

Inside of this book, Bolger puts his own military insight to use as he explores what made Maurice Rose such a great leader and what he was able to accomplish during the war. Even the Panzer were afraid of these tanks in the end and Bolger goes into great detail about the leader’s heroic acts from someone who knows exactly what it is like to command tank forces in combat.

The result is a highly detailed and insightful look at one of the most compelling cases of battlefield leadership to ever occur. Check out this work to follow along with every word– get a copy of The Panzer Killers by Daniel P. Bolger today.