The Years of MacArthur, Volume 1: 1880-1941 [Hardcover]

D. Clayton James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1970

In the twentieth century, no American commander has proved more controversial than General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. Alternately revered and vilified, MacArthur has seldom, if ever, been understood dispassionately, though more than twenty books have been written about him. This book, the first of a two-volume biography, is a portrait in depth of this military genius, from his early days down to Pearl Harbor. It is at once a chronicle of a full life and a history of the modern American army.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 740 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; First Edition edition (October 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395109485
• ISBN-13: 978-0395109489
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,122,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A judicious and comprehensive study of MacArthur's pre-WWII years, February 13, 2010

By 

Mark Klobas (Tempe, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Years of MacArthur, Volume 1: 1880-1941 (Hardcover)

There are few figures in American history who have generated as much controversy as Douglas MacArthur. From the first, he was a man about whom few were neutral, with a military career that brought him great acclaim and a personality that led many to despise him. This polarization is what makes D. Clayton James's achievement all the more remarkable. In this book, the first volume of a three-volume biography about the man, James succeeds in avoiding the extremes of hagiography or demonization, instead presenting a balanced assessment of the first six decades of MacArthur's long and historic life.

James begins by examining Douglas MacArthur's considerable military heritage. The son of Arthur MacArthur, a Civil War hero who went on to become military governor of the Philippines, Douglas grew up an "Army brat", accompanying his father as he moved from posting to posting. Excelling at West Point, where he graduated at the top of his class, he served a few years as an engineer before transferring to the infantry. MacArthur rose quickly through a combination of his own abilities and well-positioned friends, reaching the rank of brigadier general by the end of the First World War. After the war, he served in a number of prominent commands, including a period as superintendent of West Point (where he modernized much of the curriculum) before becoming the Army Chief of Staff in 1930. Yet for all of his success his career was colored by dramatic self-promotion, an almost paranoid suspicion of perceived rivals, and political controversy, and many were happy to see him leave as Chief of Staff for service abroad as military adviser in the Philippines. There, in spite of tight budgets and other problems, he endeavored to improve the colony's defenses against invasion, one he is on the verge of facing when James ends the book.

Though published forty years ago, James's book remains the starting point for anyone seeking to learn about MacArthur's career before the Second World War. This is due in equal parts to the author's judiciousness, the extensiveness of his research, and the thoroughness with which he examines his subject. James does not hesitate to judge MacArthur, yet his judgments about such controversies as the attack on the Bonus Marchers are fair and well supported by the evidence. Overall, this book is an indispensable study of MacArthur's early years and a good start to the definitive study of a accomplished and divisive figure.