Ike the Soldier [Hardcover]

Merle Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 1987

Ike the Soldier [Hardcover]

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

By the late author of Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman, this 896-page volume explores the kind of man Eisenhower was and how he developed as he did. Working with newly mined anecdotes and unpublished papers, Miller concentrates on the formation of Ike's character in his youth and then shows him in action. Brought into focus are his strained relationships with his father, his brothers, his son (John Eisenhower: "I think sometimes he considered me a sign that West Point had gone to hell") and, in particular, his by no means placid marriage. His relationship with Kay Summersby, his wartime driver-companion-confidante, is gone into in more detail than elsewhere. Miller takes pains to explain that there is no evidence to support Truman's Plain Speaking statement that Ike considered divorcing Mamie during the war. This is a highly enjoyable look at Ike's personal and official relationships with the people most important to him during the first 55 years of his life, including family, Army and Allied colleagues and heads of state.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is not a study of Eisenhower's ability as a general, nor is it a critical biography. It is, instead, a paean to Eisenhower by Miller, who idolized him. Beginning with his years at West Point, it follows his career as a junior officer, husband, father, and finally Supreme Commander in Europe. For his lengthy tribute Miller interviewed hundreds of people who knew the general. He read diaries, letters, manuscripts, the authors of which appear all to be favorably disposed. One becomes bored with so much adulation, even for those of us who like Ike. There is nothing new here, but public libraries should expect requests. Stanley Itkin, Hillside P.L., New Hyde Park, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 859 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (November 10, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399132015
• ISBN-13: 978-0399132018
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,411,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Merle Miller was born on May 17, 1919 in Montour, Iowa, and grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa. He attended the University of Iowa and the London School of Economics. He joined the US. Army Air Corps during World War II, where he worked as an editor of Yank. His best-known books are his biographies of three presidents: Plain Speaking: An Oral History of Harry Truman, Lyndon: An Oral Biography, and Ike the Soldier: As They Knew Him. His novels include That Winter, The Sure Thing, Reunion, A Secret Understanding, A Gay and Melancholy Sound, What Happened, Island 49, and A Day in Late September. He also wrote We Dropped the A-Bomb, The Judges and the Judged, Only You, Dick Daring!, about his experiences writing a television pilot for CBS starring Barbara Stanwyck and Jackie Cooper, and On Being Different, an expansion of his 1971 article for the The New York Times Magazine entitled "What It Means to Be a Homosexual." He died in 1986.