Zimmerman, Dwight Jon

PERSONAL:

Married; children: two.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY.

CAREER:

Writer. iBooks, New York, NY, senior editor of military history.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with others) World War II Reader, introduced by Robert Leckie, ibooks (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Julie Klam) Europe in Flames, Black Rabbit Books (Mankato, MN), 2003.

(With Julie Klam) From D-Day to V-E Day, Black Rabbit Books (Mankato, MN), 2003.

(With Julie Klam) Pearl Harbor and the Rise of Japan, Black Rabbit Books (Mankato, MN), 2003.

(With Julie Klam) Victory in the Pacific, Black Rabbit Books (Mankato, MN), 2003.

(With Julie Klam) Air War!, Black Rabbit Books (Mankato, MN), 2003.

(With Julie Klam) War at Home, Black Rabbit Books (Mankato, MN), 2003.

(Editor) Irwin Isenberg, The Way of Caesar: American Heritage, ibooks (New York, NY), 2005.

First Command: Paths to Leadership, foreword by James M. McPherson, Vandamere Press (St. Petersburg, FL), 2006.

(With John D. Grisham) Beyond Hell and Back: How America's Special Operations Forces Became the World's Greatest Fighting Unit, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including the U.S. Naval Institute's Naval History and Vietnam magazine. Author of the illustrated biography, Princess Diana: Once upon a Dream.

SIDELIGHTS:

Dwight Jon Zimmerman has written or edited numerous books on topics related to the military, including the World War II Reader and Irwin Isenberg's The Way of Caesar: American Heritage, along with several volumes with the historian Julie Klam. Zimmerman's 2006 book, First Command: Paths to Leadership, explores the early commands of famous military leaders in American history, showing how early accomplishments and experience helped to build character for later commands where they gained more recognition. Zimmerman includes biographies about twenty-three soldiers who worked their way up to become generals from a range of periods in American history. A contributor to the Midwest Book Review suggested that this book "is the place to start" for readers looking for brief biographies on military leaders. The same contributor pointed out that First Command provides a "rare opportunity" for those interested in researching the early leadership qualities of military leaders. Jeffrey A. French, reviewing the book in School Library Journal, commented that the book offers "a successful look at the early careers of our country's military leaders," and he commended the "unique perspective" the book brought to scholarship in military history.

Written with John D. Grisham, Beyond Hell and Back: How America's Special Operations Forces Became the World's Greatest Fighting Unit was published in 2007. The authors look into seven special operation missions, ranging from the Vietnam War to the war in Iraq. They explain the objective of the missions and how some succeeded while others did not. Missions covered include prisoner rescues in North Vietnam and Iran as well as intelligence-gathering missions in Iraq where no shots were fired. Booklist contributor Roland Green remarked that the authors "provide a superb bibliography for readers wishing to press their special forces knowledge" even deeper. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews found some political bias in the book, observing that the authors were "not neglecting the opportunity to criticize a Democratic president" in their descriptions of the failed attempt to rescue Americans held captive in Iran during Jimmy Carter's presidency. The same critic concluded that the book is "a portrait of elite fighting men at their best that will appeal to a largely male readership."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 2007, Roland Green, review of Beyond Hell and Back: How America's Special Operations Forces Became the World's Greatest Fighting Unit, p. 7.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2007, review of Beyond Hell and Back.

Midwest Book Review, December, 2006, review of First Command: Paths to Leadership.

School Library Journal, May, 2006, Jeffrey A. French, review of First Command, p. 158.