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RJ Corby's Reviews > Truman
Truman
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This is a brilliant book about one of our finest
David McCullough's "Truman" has won many accolades and awards, chief among them the Pulitzer Prize. After reading this wonderful book from cover-to-cover in less than a week, I'm convinced that this book deserves all of the praise it has received, and more.
"Truman" is the ultimate, complete package in a presidential biography. Even a novice of 20th century history (this writer included) would have a list of important events that he or she would want to read about in a Truman bio. McCullough covers them all, and in detail: the decision to drop the atomic bomb, FDR's death and the transition to the Truman administration, the Potsdam conference, the creation of the United Nations, the Korean War, the firing of MacArthur, the 1948 election, his decision to not run in 1952, etc. McCullough touches all of the bases beautifully.
The highest compliment I can think to give McCullough for this book is the sense of balance in his writing and how he brings Truman to life. Mostly absent from this book, thankfully, is the rampant cheerleading and bootlicking that plague other presidential biographies. McCullough isn't a Truman admirer who puts a positive spin on every significant event during Truman's presidency. It's obvious that McCullough thinks highly of Truman, but he grapples with the controversies of Truman without softpeddling, unlike Stephen Ambrose's one-volume "Eisenhower: Soldier & President," where Ambrose neglects important events and spends entirely too much time raining down praise on Ike.
This thoroughly researched book presents Truman in a fair and balanced manner, and much of that research is based on Truman's diaries. "Truman" covers the president's bad decisions as well as his good ones, with the president's rationale behind those decisions.
I highly recommend this book and I believe it sits high atop the heap of the many available presidential biographies. McCullough is one of America's finest historians. Buy this book, read it, and in the end, be disappointed that it's over. (Orig. Review Dec. '04)
David McCullough's "Truman" has won many accolades and awards, chief among them the Pulitzer Prize. After reading this wonderful book from cover-to-cover in less than a week, I'm convinced that this book deserves all of the praise it has received, and more.
"Truman" is the ultimate, complete package in a presidential biography. Even a novice of 20th century history (this writer included) would have a list of important events that he or she would want to read about in a Truman bio. McCullough covers them all, and in detail: the decision to drop the atomic bomb, FDR's death and the transition to the Truman administration, the Potsdam conference, the creation of the United Nations, the Korean War, the firing of MacArthur, the 1948 election, his decision to not run in 1952, etc. McCullough touches all of the bases beautifully.
The highest compliment I can think to give McCullough for this book is the sense of balance in his writing and how he brings Truman to life. Mostly absent from this book, thankfully, is the rampant cheerleading and bootlicking that plague other presidential biographies. McCullough isn't a Truman admirer who puts a positive spin on every significant event during Truman's presidency. It's obvious that McCullough thinks highly of Truman, but he grapples with the controversies of Truman without softpeddling, unlike Stephen Ambrose's one-volume "Eisenhower: Soldier & President," where Ambrose neglects important events and spends entirely too much time raining down praise on Ike.
This thoroughly researched book presents Truman in a fair and balanced manner, and much of that research is based on Truman's diaries. "Truman" covers the president's bad decisions as well as his good ones, with the president's rationale behind those decisions.
I highly recommend this book and I believe it sits high atop the heap of the many available presidential biographies. McCullough is one of America's finest historians. Buy this book, read it, and in the end, be disappointed that it's over. (Orig. Review Dec. '04)
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
December 1, 2004
–
Finished Reading
February 22, 2008
– Shelved
