REMINISCENCES

by General Douglas MacArthur ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 28, 1964

Considered merely as a writer attempting to persuade and move his readers, Gen. MacArthur emerges as a prose giant in comparison with Truman and Eisenhower. The grandiosity which has marred his public utterances is here refreshingly absent, in the main, although General MacArthur certainly includes numerous testimonials to his bravery and brilliance. His emphasis, however, is consistently on the fact that he is a mortal man with mortal passions and not the unreasoning egoist his critics have called him. When he achieves West Point's highest scholastic record in 25 years, he is both astonished and nonplused. ""I have never understood it. There were a number of my classmates who were smarter than I..."" He traces his life from his earliest memories of riding with his father on the trail of Geronimo, through cadet years and then as an engineer officer in the Philippines, as an infantry officer leading the Rainbow Division in France during WWI, his years as Chief of Staff under Hoover and Roosevelt and in setting up the defense of the Philippines. The bulk of the book covers the Pacific campaign, his duties as head of the Occupation, and his decisions in Korea. His self-defense at being relieved of duty in Korea is very convincing, indeed, and shows President Truman in a wicked light. While being of permanent historical interest, this memoir is also completely engrossing and compellingly modest (he never mentions the 1952 MacArthur-for-President bandwagon). A sure attention-getter, and tremendously readable.

Pub Date: Sept. 28, 1964

ISBN: 4871878821

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1964

Categories: NONFICTION