The Trials of Harry S. Truman

October 1, 2021

Ranging from when New York City was inhabited by the Lenape people to the present day, from grubby brothels to chic hotels, Bird tells the story of New York by focusing on A Block in Time that's bounded east-west by Sixth and Seventh avenues and north-south by 23rd and 24th streets and is overlooked by the famous Flatiron Building (45,000-copy first printing). Chief editor for Le Monde diplomatique, Chollet argues In Defense of Witches, whom she sees as symbolic of female resistance to male oppression throughout history, with the women most likely to be perceived as witches--independent-minded, childless, or older--still being outcast today (75,000-copy first printing). Having reported from Hong Kong as well as South East Asia, journalist England offers Fortune's Bazaar, the story of kaleidoscopic Hong Kong through the diverse peoples who have made the city what it is today (75,000-copy first printing). A former senior editor at The New Yorker and author of the multi-best-booked Ike and Dick, Frank returns with a reassessment of our 33rd president in The Trials of Harry S. Truman. Influential Brown economist Galor, whose unified growth theory focuses on economic growth throughout human history, tracks The Journey of Humanity to show that the last two centuries represent a new phase differentiated from the past by generally better living conditions but also a radically increased gap between the rich and the rest. Following A Thousand Ships, which was short-listed for Britain's Women's Prize for Fiction and a best seller in the United States, Haynes's Pandora's Jar belongs to a growing number of titles that put the female characters of Greek mythology front and center as less passive or secondary than they've been regarded (25,000-copy hardcover and 30,000-copy paperback first printing). In Against All Odds, popular historian Kershaw tells the story of four soldiers in the same regiment--Capt. Maurice "Footsie" Britt, West Point dropout Michael Daly, soon-to be Hollywood legend Audie Murphy, and Capt. Keith Ware, eventually the most senior US general to die in Vietnam--who became the four most decorated U.S. soldiers of World War II. After World War II, six women were given the daunting task of programming the world's first general-purpose, all-electronic computer, called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) and meant to calculate a single ballistic trajectory in 20 seconds rather than 40 hours by hand; internet law and policy specialist Kleiman interviewed four of the women over two decades, eventually writing Proving Ground and producing the award-winning documentary The Computers (50,000-copy first printing). From former Wall Street Journal reporter and New York Times best-selling author Lowenstein (e.g., When Hubris Failed), Ways and Means shows how President Abraham Lincoln and his administration parlayed efforts to fund the Civil War into creating a more centralized government. New York Times best-selling author Rappaport (Caught in the Revolution) shows what happened After the Romanovs to the aristocrats, artists, and intellectuals who fled the Russian Revolution for Paris (60,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2021
An absorbing reexamination of Harry Truman's two-term presidency and the critical years during which he held office. Much has been written about the 33rd president, whose esteem has increased over the several decades since he left office. His colorful story has become somewhat legendary: the self-educated man from rural Missouri who was thrust into a demanding leadership role following Franklin Roosevelt's untimely death. Though largely unprepared, Truman rose to the many challenges that confronted him. Among dozens of others, these included the decision to drop the first atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II, the founding of the U.N. and creation of the NATO alliance, and the fateful decision to intervene in the conflict in Korea. Frank, a former senior editor at the New Yorker and author of Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage, is also an acclaimed novelist, and his storytelling skills add significantly to this well-documented account. While not quite a revisionist history--the author's assessment remains mostly consistent with prior biographies, most notably David McCullough's 1992 Pulitzer-winning Truman--the book provides further depth and nuance to the character dynamics of Truman and his administration, including sharp portraits of James F. Byrnes, George C. Marshall, Dean Acheson, and James Vincent Forrestal, "who was destined to become one of Truman's unhappiest appointments." Ultimately, Frank delivers a balanced yet appreciative portrait of a president who, despite his limitations and flaws, proved largely capable of meeting the extraordinary demands of his time. "If he could never replace the masterful Franklin Roosevelt," writes the author, "he became someone, or something, else: a man, burdened by a persistent absence of foresight, whose policies nonetheless brought stability to an unsteady world....He understood, and cherished, the task he'd been handed, and if he did not always seem big enough for the job, no one could question the size of the decisions he made while he held it." A well-researched, engagingly human portrait of this complex mid-20th-century political leader.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 20, 2021
The quintessential Middle American rose to the occasion in wrestling with issues of vast international import, according to this shrewd presidential history. New Yorker contributor Frank (Ike and Dick) recaps Harry Truman’s eventful seven years in office, during which he approved the atomic bombing of Japan, weathered the hottest stretch of the Cold War, and launched a key civil rights initiative by desegregating the armed forces. Frank’s Truman is sensible, determined, and decisive, but impulsive (he sent a letter threatening to rearrange the nose of a music critic who panned daughter Margaret’s opera recital); able to hold his own with Churchill and Stalin, but too deferential to his advisers and the military brass. (Truman’s greatest mistake, Frank argues, was allowing Gen. Douglas MacArthur leeway to invade North Korea, which brought China into that war.) Frank astutely analyzes the geopolitics Truman confronted while conveying his character in elegant, evocative prose: “He walked with a rapid, soldierly gait, eyes straight ahead, often smiling, managing to exude confidence despite what a top aide called a ‘wholesome sense of inadequacy.’ ” The result is a discerning portrait of a president who achieved a lot just by muddling through. Photos. Agent: Tina Bennett, Bennett Literary.

January 1, 2022

Frank (novelist and former editor at The New Yorker and the Washington Post) crafts an expansive, appreciative review of a consequential, yet once-underestimated president who arguably grew into the job he unexpectedly assumed. Frank argues that Harry Truman (1884-1972) revealed himself to be contradictory, yet largely decisive and direct in addressing challenges that both he and the United States faced. These included: the use of atomic weapons and power; civil rights; recognition of Israel; maintaining the military at a "ready" state during the Cold War; and determining the extent of domestic subversion and methods to mollify both business and labor. Written in a conversational style, this book sees Frank seasoning his workmanlike narrative with a surfeit of side notes, making the non-specialist reader want to engage in purposeful browsing. Although he uses archival records himself, Frank dutifully cites abundant secondary works. It is helpful that the book references Truman's statesmen-advisors (as well as his home-state cronies), but somewhat distracting that it also details men's clothing, physical characteristics, and demeanors. VERDICT This biography is an accurate, synthetic account which readers will want to compare with David McCullough's Truman (1993), which Frank highly praises.--Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2021
Thrust into the presidency by FDR's unexpected death, Harry Truman came into office "handicapped," as he acknowledged, "by lack of knowledge of both foreign and domestic affairs." In this illuminating chronicle, Frank shows readers how this remarkable midwestern haberdasher surmounted his handicap, leaving his mark on the nation and the world. Readers see how a newly elevated Truman learned to master the unprecedented geopolitical day dawning with a fiery mushroom cloud rising above Alamogordo. Frank exposes Truman's angst in making what the president called "the most terrible decision a man ever had to make": authorizing the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan. After victory over Japan, Truman confronted the unexpected challenge of an aggressively expansionist Soviet Union. Frank impressively weaves together the narrative of Truman's maturation as international statesman with the equally engrossing story of his growth as American politician, shedding his own prejudices as he desegregates the military and presses for federal anti-lynching laws. Frank not only illuminates the global and domestic difficulties surrounding Truman, but also probes the complex character of the man himself--a give-'em-hell combativeness, which carried Truman to unexpected triumph over Dewey in 1948, set against a vulnerability evinced in his grief at the passing of his aged mother. A compelling historical inquiry.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.