MacArthur (Great Generals) [Hardcover]

Richard B. Frank (Author)

Book Description

Series: Great Generals | Publication Date: July 10, 2007

Douglas MacArthur is best remembered for his ability to adapt, a quality that catalyzed his greatest accomplishments. Adaptability has become an indispensable trait for military leadership in an era of technological leaps that guarantee the nature of war will radically change during the span of an ordinary career. One of the first proponents of a new dimension in warfare--the Air Force--MacArthur was also unmatched historically for his management of peace during the U.S. occupation of Japan. For generations to come, MacArthur's legacy will yield profitable--and entertaining--examples to Americans in and out of uniform.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

A classic example of good things in small packages, this addition to the Great Generals Series owes much to its author, an expert on the Pacific war and a particularly accomplished writer. Those attainments allow him to do a remarkable degree of justice to his subject, one of the most controversial leaders in American history. From early on, MacArthur, scion of a military family, exhibited great talents and a colossal ego that made it difficult for him to cooperate with either his fellow commanders or his civilian superiors, leading one of the latter, President Truman, to terminate his career during the Korean War. MacArthur's insensitivity to politics didn't, however, prevent him from practicing a high level of statesmanship as military governor of occupied Japan. Frank's portrait of him is that of a man clearly related to the little girl who had a little curl in the middle of her forehead. When he was good, he was indispensable; when he was bad, he made colleagues and superiors think of firing squads. A good addition for any and all twentieth-century American history collections. Green, Roland

Review

"A vivid, compelling portrait of our most enigmatic battlefield commander. Richard B. Frank strips away both myth and malarkey to reveal both Douglas MacArthur the general and Douglas MacArthur the man."--Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer prize-winning author of An Army at Dawn: The War In North Africa, 1942-1943

 

"Richard B. Frank's incisive biography of General Douglas MacArthur offers not only a great read, but a timely and useful study both of the dilemmas of civil-military relations and the challenges facing American military leaders thrust onto a global stage.  The writing is always clear, the history always accurate, and the analysis consistently stimulating.  For all his faults, MacArthur was indisputably a great man among great contemporaries--this book will make the reader ponder the disappearance of such greatness among our nation's leaders, military or civilian."--Ralph Peters, author of New Glory and Never Quit The Fight

 

"Douglas MacArthur was either the greatest American military commander of the 20th century--or a dangerous meglomaniac. In this shrewd, fair, but unblinking biogaphy, MacArthur is both- at once-brilliant and deeply flawed and, in Frank's skillful telling, an endlessly fascinating character. Rich Frank has long been a premier historian of the Pacific War. Now he has shown that he is first rank biographer as well."--Evan Thomas, Newsweek editor-at-large and author of Sea of Thunder

 

"A classic example of good things in small packages, this addition to the Great Generals Series owes much to its author, an expert on the Pacific War and a particularly accomplished writer. Those attainments allow him to do a remarkable degree of justice to his subject, one of the most controversial leaders in American history. From early on, MacArthur, scion of a military family, exhibited great talents and a colossal ego that made it difficult for him to cooperate with either his fellow commanders or his civilian superiors, leading one of the latter, President Truman, to terminate his career during the Korean War. MacArthur's insensitivity to politics didn’t, however, prevent him from practicing a high level of statesmanship as military governor of occupied Japan. Frank's portrait of him is that of a man clearly related to the little girl who had a little curl in the middle of her forehead. When he was good, he was indispensable; when he was bad, he made colleagues and superiors think of firing squads. A good addition for any and all twentieth-century American history collections."--Booklist

 

"Frank (Guardalcanal) presents the reader with a fair assessment of both the man and the soldier, covering the failures and triumphs in an assured and dispassionate tone."--David Lee Poremba, Haines City P.L., FL

 

"His own unique take on this historic figure."--NewsMax

 

"No general in American uniform during World War II was more controversial or more idolized than Douglas MacArthur.  It takes a rigidly objective historian and painstakingly careful research to produce a biography of him that is both balanced and accurate.  Richard B. Frank has succeeded brilliantly."--Brian John Murphy, America in WWII

 

"America is hard on its politicians and generals.  Whereas writers and composers are remembered for their creative peaks, and their lesser works are forgiven, politicians are often remembered for their failures, generals for their blunders. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was long an exception to this rule, for he spent a lifetime burnishing his image and training a staff to do likewise.  But history is catching up, and we now have a readable and objective biography by respected World War II historian Richard B. Frank, who is immune to the general's considerable charisma."--John M. Taylor, The Washington Times 

 

“A classic example of good things in small packages, this addition to the Great Generals Series owes much to its author, an expert on the Pacific War and a particularly accomplished writer. Those attainments allow him to do a remarkable degree of justice to his subject, one of the most controversial leaders in American history…A good addition for any and all twentieth-century American history collections.”—Booklist on MacArthur

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; First Edition edition (July 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403976589
• ISBN-13: 978-1403976581
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,205,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Five star review for a five-star general, July 24, 2007

By 

Barrett Tillman (Mesa, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: MacArthur (Great Generals) (Hardcover)

When there are multi-volume biographies running 800 to 900 pages each, what can be said about Douglas MacArthur in 198 pages?

Read Richard Frank's excellent book and find out. He's crammed at least 12 pounds into a 10-pound bag, providing a taut, concise examination of one of the dominant military figures of the 20th century. Frank's forte' is objectivity: at the end of the book you don't know what he personally thinks of Douglas MacArthur--and that's the mark of an impartial historian.

Some reviewers have complained that other Palgrave Great Generals bios address the subject's likely attitude toward current events, as does Frank. But those critics should "read the manual" and recognize that contemporary comparisons are part of the series format.

Frank's incisive bio addresses MacArthur's origins (his father was a general with the Medal of Honor), his motivations, his strengths and failings. Arguably his greatest accomplishments were before and after WW II: his spectacular heroism and leadership in WW I, his intelligent if controversial handling of postwar Japan, and his exceptional fortitude in reversing the Korean debacle with the Inchon landings in 1950. Ironically, soon thereafter his talents failed him and he brought dismissal upon himself.

Frank stresses a telling point: MacArthur's powerful aura and presence prevented nearly all his superiors from managing his colossal ego throughout his life. That trend apparently was not seen by anyone above him in the chain of command until the massive Chinese intervention in Korea. That he continually bulldozed his way from one success to another, often "improving" the facts to suit his needs, says much about the nature of geopolitical gatekeeping.

Ultimately, MacArthur was, as Frank demonstrates, straight out of a Greek tragedy: a magnificently flawed hero. Aeschylus and Sophocles would immediately understand Douglas MacArthur, and recognize the worth of this book.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Prodigious for its size, November 9, 2007

By 

Winston Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: MacArthur (Great Generals) (Hardcover)

A man as controversial as Douglas MacArthur is a difficult subject for any author, and the relatively brief "Great Generals" series makes it an especially challenging one. Richard Frank does an excellent job of covering the main details of MacArthur's career, and manages to condense a fair amount of analysis into a few brief lines. In particular, he manages to clearly convey the problem of MacArthur's singular stature in the Army; by his frequent comparison of the general's seniority and experience with those of his colleagues (Marshall, Eisenhower, etc.), the enormity of the gulf between them is made very clear. For such a small book, it does a good job of giving a good feel for the man and his career.

This is however the most flawed book of the series so far. Frank's projection of MacArthur's views forward to the present times lacks context; he does not adequately 'ground' his postdictions with references or justification, and it comes off sounding more like a caricature than is the case in the other books. Furthermore, the editing work on the book is shockingly subpar; each chapter is riddled with typographical and formatting errors (which reveals either that Wesley Clark's title as series editor is purely honorific, or that he is a magnificently incompetent editor).

Overall, it is worth reading, particularly if one desires a brief introduction to MacArthur's career and his significance as a general. Seeing that this is more or less the point of the series, one might well declare that it has accomplished its mission, despite its rather glaring flaws.

Not unlike MacArthur himself, as it happens.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent biography, March 31, 2008

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: MacArthur: The Great Generals Series (Audio CD)

In this fascinating biography, author and historian Richard B. Frank tells the story of General Douglas MacArthur, one of only nine American men to be promoted to the 5 star rank. Beginning with MacArthur's childhood in the closing days of the American West, he follows his career as he streaked across the American sky like a meteor.

Overall, I found this to be an absolutely fascinating audiobook. The author does an excellent job of presenting the real Douglas MacArthur, showing him at his most brilliant, and at his worst - falsifying reports, making tragic blunders, and so forth. And, Tom Weiner does a great job of reading the book, his voice sounding pleasant on the ear, making the 7 hours (on 6 CDs) go by quite pleanantly.

Now, everyone seems to mention the book's attempt to give what would have been MacArthur's views on current events. Admittedly, this is a rather subjective exercise. But, that said, I think that the author did do a good job of suggesting what the general would have said and thought.

Yep, I think that this is an excellent audio-biography of General MacArthur, one that should be purchased by every armchair student of World War 2.