Truman

by David McCullough (Author)

• New

  Illustrated
  1992

  $38.23

  Here at last is the first full-scale biography of Harry S. Truman, his life and times, by David McCullough, distinguished historian and prize-winning author.Huge, ambitious, ten years in the writing, and perfectly realized, Truman is an American masterpiece about that most American of presidents, the man from Missouri, the seemingly simple, ordinary man who in fact was always much more than met the eye and who would achieve a greatness of his own after coming to office in FDR's giant shadow.No one but David McCullough, with his sure grasp of the American past and his feeling for people, could have written this extraordinary, deeply moving biography, at once spare in style yet rich in emotion and insight.Much of the story is drawn from newly discovered archival material and from extensive interviews with Truman friends, family, and figures once prominent in Truman's Washington. And much will com as a surprise to many readers.The story begins with Truman's origins in the raw, expansive world of the Missouri frontier. It chronicles a small-town, turn-of-the-century boyhood, family love, family tragedy, and young harry's years on the farm - years of relentless, often brutal work always cheerfully performed; of dogged learning, dogged courtship, optimism in the face of defeat, and courage in the face of war in 19418, the experience that changed everthing for Truman.Here in colorful detail is the story of his political beginnings with the powerful Pendergast machine that ruled Kansas City, and of Boss Tom Pendergast who sent Truman to the United States Senate, where rapidly, unexpectedly, he proved himself no small-time party hack but a man of uncommon vitality andstrength of character.With a telling account of Truman at Potsdam and his momentous decision to use the atomic bomb, McCullough's Truman shows a gritty, untried, unprepared new President facing responsibilities such as had weighed on no man ever before, confronting a new age and the growing menace of Soviet power, and, in a handful of years, under terrible pressures, defining the course of American politics and diplomacy for the next forty years.

• Used

  paperback
  

  $10.18

  This biography of Harry Truman goes beyond the traditional portrait of the ordinary man to present an extraordinary American President. Drawing on archival material and extensive interviews, McCullough chronicles Truman's boyhood in Missouri, his entry into politics and his surprising success as a US senator. But it is Truman's emergence as a decisive and confident President that forms the heart of this book. McCullough casts new light on Truman's character and motivations, and shows how he set the course of politics and policy for the next 40 years. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1993.

• New

  paperback
  

  $14.05

  This biography of Harry Truman goes beyond the traditional portrait of the ordinary man to present an extraordinary American President. Drawing on archival material and extensive interviews, McCullough chronicles Truman's boyhood in Missouri, his entry into politics and his surprising success as a US senator. But it is Truman's emergence as a decisive and confident President that forms the heart of this book. McCullough casts new light on Truman's character and motivations, and shows how he set the course of politics and policy for the next 40 years. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1993.