Gratuitous Historickal Blegging

Mac.jpg

One of our readers dropped a very nice little note into the Tasty Bits (TM) Mail Sack this afternoon. Along with welcoming me into HMC and comparing notes on the reading of Narnia stories to children, she also informed me that she and her husband had started doing some research on MacArthur, not satisfied with the way Ken Burns apparently treats him in his latest teevee series (none of which I've seen). She asked me if I could recommend any good biographical material on the man.

Well, as I replied, I'm really not much use here, other than to note that MacArthur and I share the same birthday. William Manchester's American Caesar immediately springs to mind, but I can only recommend it on the author's general reputation, not having read it myself. And perhaps because as a kid I thought the ships and planes were much more interesting, my knowledge of the Pacific Theatre in WWII is much greater in terms of sea-borne leaders like Nimitz, Halsey and Fletcher than it is of Mac.

Anyhoo, I said that I would throw the question open to you lot. Any recommendations will, of course, be greatly appreciated (by both of us).

Yip! Yip!

I SHALL RETURN YIPS from Steve-O: Definitely American Caesar. Also, you can't go wrong with MacArthur's memoirs Reminisences written in the 1950s, keeping in mind how egotistical and self-serving an example of the genre they are. But a good read nonetheless, particularly when juxtaposed with Omar Bradley's memoirs A Soldier's Story.

Posted by: Robert at 03:50 PM

Comments

1 I read American Caesar (albeit a long time ago) and found it fair and balanced.

Posted by: Dan at January 31, 2008 04:26 PM (9/Szu)

2 I liked his portrayal in Cryptonomicon.

Megalomaniacal and impervious to gunfire.

Posted by: The Abbot at January 31, 2008 04:44 PM (b1/bF)

3 Max Hastings book on the Koean War, discusses his role in the conflict and what led him to be sacked by Truman. Im my opinion, the US Army's performance under MacArthur was an embarrasment. He was an egomanical jerk, who at various times possessed the drive and cunning to pull of some amazing feats (Inchon).

Posted by: oclarki at January 31, 2008 05:06 PM (otsZj)

4 If you confine your research to a single work, I would also recommend AMERICAN CAESAR. I would consider it the best single source. It is well researched and William Manchester who authored the work was a Marine Infantryman during WWII. He was severly wounded on Okinawa. His approach to the work is both personal and academic.

Posted by: Tbird at February 02, 2008 11:45 AM (nLJn9)

5 Geoffrey Perret also wrote a very good and balanced bio of MacArthur. Together with Wm Manchester's American Caesar you can get a good look at a flawed, yet highly competent and capable military leader. He suffered a lot of bad press through the years; especially from people like Ken Burns, who draws only on the Truman camps view of Korea.

Read MacArthur's testimony to Congress after his recall in 1951 when he tells Congress that while they dither "the dust of Korea is being settled with American blood."

Posted by: Phil at February 05, 2008 01:58 PM (Hmx6G)

6

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