Kay Summersby's book is a fascinating look at the inner workings of the Supreme Allied Headquarters during World War II. She writes clearly and consicely about the organization that helped win World War II in Europe, and provides key details about the personalities and relationships between such notable historical figures such as Eisenhower, Churchill, Montgomery, Patton, Bradley, and such.

However, the nature of her relationship with General Dwight D. Eisenhower is the central theme of the book and she repeatedly alludes to their stolen moments together. To a person, all others on Eisenhower's staff deny her accusations, including Eisenhower before his death, and can refute most of her stories of their love. For example, she describes in candid detail interludes and rendevous they supposedly shared, but at the time of many of these, Eisenhower was away from his headquarters or with others, including his wife and/or son.

In her first book, "Eisenhower Was My Boss," written in 1947, she makes no mention of this romantic relationship. Why, then, 30 years later, did she expose the "truth." Perhaps it was because she was on her death bed and looking back on a life unfulfilled. She had two failed marriages, no children, and no job history. A fantasized relationship with Eisenhower, one of the most powerful men in history, could be her legacy.

Aside from the falacious story of the relationship with Eisenhower, "Past Forgetting" is a good read if you are interested in the manner in which World War II in Europe was fought and won on both the political and military fronts.

This book by a dying Kay Summersby is a poignant account of what can happen when a man and a woman are thrown into a wartime work relationship that is unrelentingly stressful and from which neither dare retreat.

In her book, written largely from memory, Kay has no regrets and makes no accusations. She treats her infatuation and love for her near-genius and overstressed boss, Dwight Eisenhower, with grace and sensitive restraint, focusing more on the emotional than the physical. Her book reveals how their extreme discression ensured that virtually no one on Eisenhower's staff understood their special relationship. Anyone who has read the book will understand the post-war denials of truth by those on the periphery of Eisenhower's inner circle. Both knew that when the war ended their love affair also had to end. It is a very personal story without a storybook ending.

Her book gives first-hand insight into the personalities and quirks of the major leaders of WW2. Kay treated the emotional aspects of her mutual relationship with Eisenhower with honesty and objectivity. It was a story that needed telling.