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Title: Harry S. Truman
Subtitle: A Life
Author: Robert H. Ferrell
Narrator: Jeff Riggenbach
Format: Unabridged
Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-21-17
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Political Figures
Publisher's Summary:
Few US presidents have captured the imagination of the American people as has Harry S. Truman. In this biography, Robert H. Ferrell, widely regarded as an authority on the 33rd president, challenges the popular characterization of Truman as a man who rarely sought the offices he received, revealing instead a man who - with modesty, commitment to service, and basic honesty - moved with method and system toward the presidency.
No other historian has ever demonstrated such command over the vast amounts of material on Truman's life. Based upon years of research in the Truman Library and the study of many never-before-used primary sources, Harry S. Truman: A Life is destined to become the authoritative account of the nation's favorite president.
Members Reviews:
This is a well written book. Audible. com ...
This is a well written book. Audible.com also has a "word-for-word" audiobook of this book, which can help advance you through it faster when commuting, working, etc., then you can pickup reading it where Audible left off and not miss anything.
Five Stars
Great deal, got this book for my Govt. class.
Four Stars
as promised
Objective bio, complement to McCullough
Poor Ferrell. Did anyone realize there was a second scholarly biography of Truman published in the 90s? Ferrell presents a different Harry Truman than David McCullough. His Truman is less romantic and less the accidental president. Where McCullough seems to put Truman on a pedestal, Ferrell presents a more realistic view. McCullough captures much of Truman's day-to-day thoughts and actions through his letters to Bess and Margaret, which obviously provides much greater insight into the President's personality, while Ferrell captured them through the comments and diaries of staff and contemporaries. While still portraying him as an honest and very capable (and underrated) president, he does not shy away from discussing his missteps and weaknesses.
I think a perfect example of the juxtaposition of the two authors is how each describes how the Marshall Plan got its name. McCullough says Truman wanted to give General Marshall credit for his ideas; Ferrell says Truman knew a bill called the "Truman Plan" would never make it past the Republicans in Congress. Both statements are probably true, but each author has a different emphasis.
Ferrell provides good analysis on world and national events happening around Truman with some interesting digressions and observations, such as with Stalin, Korea and its aftermath, McArthur, etc.. In fact, it becomes more of a history book than a biography of Truman. Because of this emphasis, the reader does not discover the real Truman, what drove him, his intimate thoughts and fears, etc. Bess, Margaret, and Mama Truman are bit players in this bio, although there were core to Truman.
Truman's 1948 election win was indeed result of a miraculous 11th hour great burst of energy by the incumbent president, but Ferrell does not shrink from showing Truman as the typical politician, slinging a little mud and showing partisanship against the 80th Congress, which he lambasted publicly and complemented privately (they passed the "Truman doctrine" and were as good with New Deal legislation as their predecessors and successors).
Despite his reserved countenance and mousy presentation, Truman was his own man.