HARRY S. TRUMAN

Workmanlike but involving, this well-organized and fact-rich biography in the United States Presidents series gives readers a balanced assessment of the 33rd President. All the necessary information is included here: Truman's childhood, education, family, career choices, political achievements, and, notably, his presidency. Although it lasted less than two full terms, it included the decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the end of the war on both fronts, the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine, the Tart-Hartley Act, the beginning of the Cold War, the McCarthy hearings, and the start of the Korean War. Schuman (Elie Wiesel, 1994, etc.) breaks no ground but covers the material reliably and readably. With few biographies of Truman available, this is an accessible, on-target entry. (b&w photos, not seen, notes, chronology, further reading, index) (Biography. 10+)