Stuff
Adobe DRM
Product Details
Simon & Schuster, June 2010
eBook, 35 pages
ISBN-10: 1451618220
ISBN-13: 9781451618228
Description
An intemperate general. An unpopular war. A military and diplomatic team in disarray.
Those are the challenges President Obama has faced as he attempts to make a success of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. They are also the challenges President Truman surmounted in the winter of 1950 as he began managing a war in Korea that risked becoming bigger and more costly. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War: U.S. troops under the command of General Douglas MacArthur came to the aid of the South Koreans after North Korea invaded. When Communist China entered the conflict on the side of the North Koreans, the crisis seemed on the verge of flaring into a world war. Truman was determined not to let that happen. MacArthur kept urging a widening of the war into China itself and ignoring his commander in chief. On April 11, 1951, after MacArthur had "shot his mouth off," as one diplomat put it, one too many times, Truman fired him.
The story of their showdown—one of the most dramatic in U.S. history between a commander in chief and his top soldier in the field—is captured in all its detail by David McCullough in his Pulitzer Prize–winning biography Truman, and presented here in a ebook called Truman Fires MacArthur (ebook excerpt of Truman), which was the headline carried in many newspapers around the country the next day.
Those are the challenges President Obama has faced as he attempts to make a success of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. They are also the challenges President Truman surmounted in the winter of 1950 as he began managing a war in Korea that risked becoming bigger and more costly. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War: U.S. troops under the command of General Douglas MacArthur came to the aid of the South Koreans after North Korea invaded. When Communist China entered the conflict on the side of the North Koreans, the crisis seemed on the verge of flaring into a world war. Truman was determined not to let that happen. MacArthur kept urging a widening of the war into China itself and ignoring his commander in chief. On April 11, 1951, after MacArthur had "shot his mouth off," as one diplomat put it, one too many times, Truman fired him.
The story of their showdown—one of the most dramatic in U.S. history between a commander in chief and his top soldier in the field—is captured in all its detail by David McCullough in his Pulitzer Prize–winning biography Truman, and presented here in a ebook called Truman Fires MacArthur (ebook excerpt of Truman), which was the headline carried in many newspapers around the country the next day.
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"McCullough's marvelous feel for history is based on an appreciation of colorful tales and an insight into
personalities. In this compelling saga of America's greatest common-man president, McCullough adds luster to an old-fashioned historical approach . . . the sweeping narrative, filled with telling details and an appreciation of the role individuals play in shaping the world."
--Walter Isaacson, Time
personalities. In this compelling saga of America's greatest common-man president, McCullough adds luster to an old-fashioned historical approach . . . the sweeping narrative, filled with telling details and an appreciation of the role individuals play in shaping the world."
--Walter Isaacson, Time
-- Walter Isaacson, Time
"McCullough is a master storyteller whose considerable narrative skills have been put to exquisite use in re-creating the life and times of America's 33rd president."
-- Robert Dallek, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Perhaps the highest tribute one can pay a biographer is to say that through him one comes to know his subject almost as though in person. In fostering the reader's acquaintance with Harry Truman, not once does McCullough get in the way. This is in every respect a splendid work."
-- Myron A. Marty, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Since I've been in national politics, whenever I've been asked who my favorite political leader of the century is, I have always said Harry Truman…. David McCullough has always been a favorite of mine. The Truman biography is outstanding."
-- Jimmy Carter, The Boston Phoenix
"Exemplary and riveting…. The book is like a comfortable Victorian three-decker novel. There are two plots, a hero and heroine, and a glittering cast of characters ranging from Dean Acheson, Churchill and General Marshall to the Pendergasts and General MacArthur, as well as a splendid collection of Shakespearean clowns…. McCullough's book will stand for a long time as the outstanding analysis of an extremely important subject: the greatness of Truman, and its role as an exogenous 'cause' in the history of his time."
-- Eugene V. Rostow, Times Literary Supplement, London
"An impressive and valuable study of Truman, worthy of its subject."
-- C. Vann Woodward, The New York Review
"Truman is biography as good as it gets, as absorbing and readable as it is voluminous. McCullough writes like a novelist, digs like a zealous reporter and puts things in perspective like the superb historian he is."
-- Lorenzo Carcaterra, People magazine
"This is the biography of President Harry S. Truman against which not only all other Truman biographies but probably all other presidential biographies will be measured. It is comprehensive, well reasoned, insightful and yet elegantly simple. It is written with a love for the subject that is contagious."
-- Steve Weinberg, The Kansas City Star
"McCullough takes us on a beautifully guided tour of recent history--a journey that is as much a celebration of American experience as it is a captivating portrait of the ordinary 'man from Missouri' who became an extraordinary figure in the Cold War world. Keeping Truman himself always vividly in the foreground, Mr. McCullough has written a stirring, masterly, thoroughly absorbing book."
-- Jean Strouse, author of Alice James: A Biography
"Superbly researched and carried forward by McCullough's narrative drive, Truman is endlessly readable. The Harry we were all wild about is re-created exactly as Harry was--feisty, preposterous, decisive, tireless, outrageous, but always honorable, always courageous, always guided by his inner gyroscope of conscience and character."
-- William Manchester, author of William Spencer Churchill: The Last Lion
"Plain wonderful."
-- Justin Kaplan
David McCullough's Books
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The Greater JourneyDavid McCullough tells the story of the American artists and scientists who studied in Paris, and changed America through what they learned there.Read More
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Great BridgeDavid McCullough offers a classic account of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the greatest engineering feats of all time.Read More
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David McCullough American History E-book Box SetThis e-book box set includes the following American History-themed books by David McCullough: · John Adams: The magisterial, Pulitzer...Read More -
David McCullough American Presidents E-Book Box SetThis e-book box set features David McCullough’s award-winning biographies of American Presidents, including: · John Adams: The magisterial,...Read More
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David McCullough Great Moments in History E-book Box SetThe David McCullough Great Moments in History e-book box set includes the following McCullough classics: · 1776: The riveting story of George...Read More
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David McCullough Library E-book Box SetThis e-book box set includes all of David McCullough’s bestselling backlist titles: · 1776: The riveting story of George Washington, the men...Read More
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Mornings on HorsebackWinner of the National Book Award for Biography, Mornings on Horseback is David McCullough’s brilliant biography of the young Theodore...Read More
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Path Between The SeasThe bestselling and dramatically epic tale of the creation of the Panama Canal, from acclaimed historian David McCullough.Read More
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The Course of Human EventsIn this short speech, the master historian tracks the founding fathers' and his own fascination with all things historical.Read More
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John AdamsIn this basis for the hit HBO miniseries, David McCullough shares the adventurous life of John Adams, one of our most fascinating founding fathers.Read More
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John Adams Movie Tie-InIn this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often...Read More
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Brave CompanionsThe bestselling author of Truman and John Adams, David McCullough has written profiles of exceptional men and women past and present who have not only...Read More
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Johnstown FloodFROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF JOHN ADAMS At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania was a booming coal-and-steel town...Read More
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American Heritage's Great Minds of American HistoryIn a series of fascinating interviews, today's best and brightest historians weigh in on the crucial moments in American history. American...Read More
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Elihu WashburneThe remarkable diary and letters of American diplomat Elihu Washburne, who heroically aided his countrymen during the horrific Siege of Paris.Read More
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