Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1993
Pages: 1120
Rating: Recommend
Synopsis: The life of Harry S. Truman is one of the greatest American stories, filled with vivid characters - Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and Dean Acheson - dramatic events. In this riveting biography, acclaimed historian David McCullough not only captures the man - a more complex, informed, and determined man than ever before imagined - but also the turbulent times in which he rose, boldly, to meet unprecedented challenges. The last president to serve as a living link between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Truman's story spans the raw world of the Missiouri frontier, World War I, the powerful Pendergrast machine of Kansas City, the legendary Whistle-Stop Campaign of 1948, the decisions to drop the atomic bomb, confront Stalin at Potsdam, send troops to Korea, and fire General MacArthur. Drawing on newly discovered archival material and extensive interviews with Truman's own family, friends, and Washington colleagues, McCullough tells the deeply moving story of the seemingly ordinary "man from Missouri" who was perhaps the most courageous president in our history.
Review: We visited Independence, Missouri last month, and while I was most interested in it as a trail head/jumping off point for the various frontier trails (Oregon, California, and Santa Fe), my husband was all about the Truman connection. Prior to visiting both his home and presidential library, I knew very little about President Truman. He had dropped the atomic bomb and he wore little, round wire glasses. That was the extent of my knowledge.
I learned a lot in those few hours, and saw this book on the gift shop shelf. I read a few pages while we were waiting for our home tour tickets, and it seemed quite readable - in typical McCullough style. I requested Truman from the library as soon as we returned home.
No comments:
Post a Comment