"In the closing days of World War II, America looked up to three five-star generals as its greatest heroes. George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Douglas MacArthur personified victory, from the Pentagon to Normandy to the Far East. Counterparts and on occasion competitors, they had leapfrogged each other, sometimes stonewalled each other, even supported and protected each other throughout their celebrated careers. In the public mind they stood for glamour, integrity, and competence. But for dramatic twists of circumstance, all three - rather than only one - might have occupied the White House." "The story of their interconnected lives opens a fascinating window onto some of the twentieth century's most crucial events, revealing the personalities behind the public images and showing how much of a difference three men can make."--BOOK JACKET. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Starred Review. The much-published Weintraub (arts & humanities, emeritus, Pennsylvania State Univ.; MacArthur's War: Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero) provides a detailed and absorbing gloss on the relationships among three extraordinary leaders. MacArthur dreamed of glory and expected the presidency; Marshall refused to plead for the battle command that would have made his name a byword; the gregarious Ike outstripped his former mentors. Fascinating reading; for all libraries. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Weintraub, who has written many World War II histories, here inspects the interrelationship of the U.S. Army's three highest-ranking generals of that war: Douglas MacArthur, George Marshall, and Dwight Eisenhower. Ike's story bounces between those of the other two, for he served directly under them before Marshall selected him in mid-1942 to command American forces in Europe. MacArthur, by then already a military celebrity, was commander in the Southwest Pacific; Marshall managed the two from the newly built Pentagon. This geography makes Weintraub's narrative resemble a Venn diagram, existing at the intersections of the three generals' activities during the war. These took various forms, including visits from Marshall; messages about strategy and allocation of resources; and Marshall's disposition of personnel decisions that Ike or MacArthur referred to him. After the war, as the three assumed posts in the developing cold war, each took on an aura of presidential possibility. Culminating with the Korean War's ramifications for the trio, Weintraub's densely detailed chronicle can prime readers for future reading, whether individual biographies or battle histories. Taylor, Gilbert. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Stanley Weintraub is Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus of Arts and Humanities at Penn State University. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.