Customer Reviews

At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends

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Recently I went and toured the Eisenhower farm in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. It was a facinating tour (Given by Ike's personal physician and family friend) and when it was over I asked the gentleman what book I should read to learn more about Eisenhower. He recommended this one and a fine recommendation it was.

One nice thing about Eisenhower is he had a gift for story telling and he puts that gift to good use here. You discover when reading his books that they have a very comfortable feel to them. No dry read here. Eisenhower had a real talent for writing (He didn't use a ghost writer but wrote his books completely on his own) and you come away with a better appreciation of the man's intelligence and strong wit.

I was also surprised in the book at how much candor Ike shows. One half expects when reading a book like this you would get a lot of political stories or things to try and justify some of his political choices while President but that is not the case. It really is a book that the title says it is. Personal stories that Ike liked to tell his friends. The result is we get a nice look at the man. Not General or President Eisenhower but the man himself looking back at his life as a soldier, husband and father.

One note on this book. WW II is only lightly covered in this. Eisenhower covers that subject in "Crusade in Europe" which I also recommend.

If you're are interested in learning more about Ike and his life, this is a great place to start.

told by Ike himself. He demonstrates a personal touch in this book. It is very different from "Crusade in Europe" & "Eisen-
hower at War" in that he treads very lightly on World War II. It is told the way he wanted to thru mostly humorous stories. It is told without pomposity or the self-serving justifications you find in many autobiographies. Documentation not required here. He covers events in his life that Stephen Ambrose choose to edit in his fine one volume version of Ike's life.
There are stories told in "At Ease" that may not ever be told elsewhere that Ike himself enjoyed. This is an old man talking about events from his youth. Nobody can gaurantee they are 100% accurate & Ike admits as much in the book's preface. It is still an enjoyable book by a great man.

"At Ease" is a great compliment to Ike's "Crusade in Europe." In "At Ease", Ike describes his pre-WW2 years in the Army adding many colorful stories. My favorite stories were of the years George Patton and Ike spent in the 1920's researching the tank's future in war. Eisenhower had a interesting career as a mid-level officer including many assignments to football teams as a coach. Most interesting are his tales of his assignment in Panama, which were to have a significant affect on his career.

Ike leaves most of his WW2 stories to be told in "Crusade in Europe." In "At Ease" he covers in depth his career after WW2 and the plans Maime and Ike had for life after the Army. This work goes right up until the key role Ike played in the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Orginization defense force. Although Ike doesn't say much about the Presidency, he describes many of the reasons why he would end up later accepting the nomination in 1952.

"At Ease" is a very enjoyable collection of stories for anyone wishing to know more about the famous 5-star General and President, as well as his contemporaries.

I must admit, I was surprised when I read this one (after putting it off a number of years). Eisenhower did indeed have a knack for story telling and this becomes quite apparent with the first read of the first page of this book. This work gives us an inside look into the mind of a truely great man. I, like a couple of other reviewers here, was quite delighted with the candor, and insightfulness of this President. Actually, I found the work to be quite refreshing in this area...it is so unlike many of the autobiographies of some of the more recent presidents. Anyway, this book is well written and extremely informative and very, very readable. I highly recommend it to any history buff and highly recommend it to anyone having even the slightest interest in this individual the times he lived in. Recommend you add this one to your libary as you will no doubt want to give it a reread.

In "At Ease" Dwight D. Eisenhower entertains the reader with recollections of his life up to the end of his military career. Organized chronologically, he tells the tales of his Abilene years, his time in the Peacetime army, the ordeals of World War II and his postwar migration toward political life.

On the pages of this book we learn of Ike's ancestors, his immediate family, his youthful interests and his courtship of Mamie.

Ike brings us into a series of "what if" situations which could have changed history. What if he had been admitted to Annapolis, rather than West Point? What if his football injury had prevented his commissioning? What if he had been sent to France in World War I? Ike lets us into his hopes and frustrations.

An early intra-war adventure was his participation in a cross country truck convoy which introduced him to the breadth of his country and to the need for good roads which he would advance decades later with his promotion of the Interstate Highway System. During the intra-war years Ike served under Gen. Douglas MacArthur in Washington and in the Philippines. His disagreement with MacArthur's impressions of the Bonus Army and his disapproval of the Chief Of Staff's personal involvement with its rout provide insight into Ike's character evaluation as well as his own developing values which would guide his later public life. During this period his friendship with George S. Patton matured and their professional interest in tanks kept a technology alive.

Approaching World War II, Ike's timely return from the Philippines and his performance in war games in Louisiana positioned him for the call to leadership.

Assigned command of Operation Torch, the American invasion of North Africa, Ike's involvement among rival French factions marked his advance into a form of politics. At this high command level, Ike became more deeply involved in interaction with political leaders, particularly Winston Churchill. With the transfer to Europe, his involvement in the Great Crusade deepened.

With victory achieved, Ike became involved in occupation issues with the Soviets which lead to his increasing mistrust of them. He relates some insightful and some humorous incidents during his service as Chief of Staff. During his time as president of Columbia University, Ike tried his hand at education and civilian life.

This book is very well written in an easy to follow style. It is a collection of memories, not a full biography. Ike tried to avoid stories which he reported in "Crusade In Europe" (See my Amazon.com review). "At Ease" holds the reader's interest while providing insight into Eisenhower's life and character.

I felt compelled to read my wife many passages. This joins my list of favorites. I was suprised to find this book so interesting. This is a must read for anybody who wants to know the man. The book ends before Ike enters the presedential campaign.

A personal insight to a President I really don't remember since I was a child during the time of his presidency. Enjoyable!

This book was a true pleasure to read, so my husband states. He is a great admirer of Eisenhower and found this book really wonderful.

I gave this book to my 80-year-old mother, who remembers Dwight Eisenhower from her younger years. She cried when I gave the book to her. When I first opened to the inside flap, I saw that the book had been a long-ago gift to someone else and the giver wrote..."To the soldier in you." I left the inscription in the book and wrote to my mother, telling her she also has a soldier in herself. She's a brave woman who loves people and their stories. She has since told me that the At Ease book is very good. I believe in Providence and I believe that book with that heartfelt note from the past was meant for my mother in the present.

Brook Evans

This adds to understanding of who Ike was. There are insights to Ike not found in other books. Such things as his experiences growing up in Abilene, withdrawing his application for flight training to marry Mamie and his relationship with his horse in Panama. A nice rounding out of Ike's life.