MacArthur Reconsidered

MacArthur Reconsidered PDF Author: James Ellman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0811771598
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
James Ellman digs deep, connects the dots, and concludes that General Douglas MacArthur was decidedly not a military genius. One of America's most controversial generals, Douglas MacArthur’s rise through the U.S. Army’s ranks was meteoric. However, he did not lead large formations of men in combat until he assumed command of forces in the Philippines in 1941. When war commenced with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, MacArthur’s performance on the battlefield was a failure: he underestimated the Japanese, and his poorly trained forces were outmaneuvered and outfought by a much smaller invading force. However, in what became a repeating hallmark of his career, he successfully portrayed his actions to much of the American people as brilliant and heroic regardless of victory or defeat. After fleeing to Australia, MacArthur famously announced, “I will return,” and followed through on a quest to retake Manila regardless of its impact on Allied global strategy or its cost in American, Australian, and Filipino blood. In his subsequent role as America’s shogun in Tokyo, MacArthur was again surprised by an enemy he underestimated. The Korean War yielded his greatest victory, at Inchon, but also his greatest defeat, along the Yalu River. Unwilling to accept anything but complete victory, he openly defied President Truman: MacArthur fatally undermined chances for an early peace, planned to seed a great swath of enemy territory with radioactive cobalt, and attempted to widen a conflict which threatened to become a third world war. Raging against his subsequent firing, he only truly faded away after he was publicly criticized by a panoply of America’s greatest WWII generals. Today, MacArthur still polarizes. Many biographies agree he was a great and patriotic leader marred by a few failures. Ellman argues the opposite: MacArthur was a lackluster battlefield commander who suffered stunning defeats while undermining the command structure of our military.

MacArthur Reconsidered

MacArthur Reconsidered PDF Author: James Ellman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0811771598
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 295

Get Book Here

Book Description
James Ellman digs deep, connects the dots, and concludes that General Douglas MacArthur was decidedly not a military genius. One of America's most controversial generals, Douglas MacArthur’s rise through the U.S. Army’s ranks was meteoric. However, he did not lead large formations of men in combat until he assumed command of forces in the Philippines in 1941. When war commenced with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, MacArthur’s performance on the battlefield was a failure: he underestimated the Japanese, and his poorly trained forces were outmaneuvered and outfought by a much smaller invading force. However, in what became a repeating hallmark of his career, he successfully portrayed his actions to much of the American people as brilliant and heroic regardless of victory or defeat. After fleeing to Australia, MacArthur famously announced, “I will return,” and followed through on a quest to retake Manila regardless of its impact on Allied global strategy or its cost in American, Australian, and Filipino blood. In his subsequent role as America’s shogun in Tokyo, MacArthur was again surprised by an enemy he underestimated. The Korean War yielded his greatest victory, at Inchon, but also his greatest defeat, along the Yalu River. Unwilling to accept anything but complete victory, he openly defied President Truman: MacArthur fatally undermined chances for an early peace, planned to seed a great swath of enemy territory with radioactive cobalt, and attempted to widen a conflict which threatened to become a third world war. Raging against his subsequent firing, he only truly faded away after he was publicly criticized by a panoply of America’s greatest WWII generals. Today, MacArthur still polarizes. Many biographies agree he was a great and patriotic leader marred by a few failures. Ellman argues the opposite: MacArthur was a lackluster battlefield commander who suffered stunning defeats while undermining the command structure of our military.

MacArthur at War

MacArthur at War PDF Author: Walter R. Borneman
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316405310
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 697

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Book Description
The definitive account of General Douglas MacArthur's rise during World War II, from the author of the bestseller The Admirals. World War II changed the course of history. Douglas MacArthur changed the course of World War II. Macarthur at War will go deeper into this transformative period of his life than previous biographies, drilling into the military strategy that Walter R. Borneman is so skilled at conveying, and exploring how personality and ego translate into military successes and failures. Architect of stunning triumphs and inexplicable defeats, General MacArthur is the most intriguing military leader of the twentieth century. There was never any middle ground with MacArthur. This in-depth study of the most critical period of his career shows how his influence spread far beyond the war-torn Pacific. A Finalist for the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History at the New York Historical Society

General Walter Krueger

General Walter Krueger PDF Author: Kevin C. Holzimmer
Publisher: Modern War Studies
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
A military biography of the general who led the U.S. Sixth Army in the Southwest Pacific in World War II, including grueling jungle campaigns in New Britain and New Guinea, and who was subsequently chosen by General MacArthur to lead the ground invasion of both the Philippines and Japan.

The Most Dangerous Man in America

The Most Dangerous Man in America PDF Author: Mark Perry
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465080677
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
At times, even his admirers seemed unsure of what to do with General Douglas MacArthur. Imperious, headstrong, and vain, MacArthur matched an undeniable military genius with a massive ego and a rebellious streak that often seemed to destine him for the dustbin of history. Yet despite his flaws, MacArthur is remembered as a brilliant commander whose combined-arms operation in the Pacific -- the first in the history of warfare -- secured America's triumph in World War II and changed the course of history. In The Most Dangerous Man in America, celebrated historian Mark Perry examines how this paradox of a man overcame personal and professional challenges to lead his countrymen in their darkest hour. As Perry shows, Franklin Roosevelt and a handful of MacArthur's subordinates made this feat possible, taming MacArthur, making him useful, and finally making him victorious. A gripping, authoritative biography of the Pacific Theater's most celebrated and misunderstood commander, The Most Dangerous Man in America reveals the secrets of Douglas MacArthur's success -- and the incredible efforts of the men who made it possible.

The Pacific War

The Pacific War PDF Author: William B. Hopkins
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
ISBN: 1616732407
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 415

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Book Description
This “important comprehensive study” of WWII in the Pacific examines the high-level decision-making and strategy that led to victory (Roanoke Times). Once the stories have been told of battles won and lost, most of what happens in a war remains a mystery. So it has been with accounts of World War II in the Pacific, a complex conflict whose nature is often obscured by simple chronological narratives. In The Pacific War, William B. Hopkins, a Marine Corps veteran of the Pacific war and respected military history author, opens the story of the Pacific campaign to a broader and deeper view. Hopkins investigates the strategies, politics, and personalities that shaped the fighting. His regional approach to this complex war conducted on land, sea, and air offers an insightful perspective on how this multifaceted conflict unfolded. As expansive as the immense reaches of the Pacific, and as focused as the most intensive pinpoint attack on a strategic island, Hopkins’ account offers a fresh way of understanding the hows—and more significantly, the whys—of the Pacific War.

The Great Curse

The Great Curse PDF Author: R. Albert Berry
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197782671
Category : Agriculture
Languages : en
Pages : 505

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Book Description
"Land is the key input for economies in the earliest stages of development, when seventy-five percent to ninety percent of the labor force is engaged in agriculture. Concentration of land ownership has been a common, and usually quite damaging, feature of most societies throughout history as both the cause and the result of access to power. Highly unequal control of land typically implies severe inequality of income and welfare, as well. Landlessness has been at the root of many of the world's most serious and persistent problems, including severe exploitation and the deprivation of political rights and basic human needs. Historically, the motivation for many revolutions has been access to land. This volume reviews the land reform experiences of multiple countries during the twentieth century. The experiences l covered llustrate the widespread need for reform, the great difficulties facing major changes, and the extreme cost of failure in delicate political moments. Looking ahead, the biggest challenge will be to avoid the injustices and inequality that have accompanied land concentration in the past"--

MacArthur in Asia

MacArthur in Asia PDF Author: Hiroshi Masuda
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801466199
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 335

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Book Description
General Douglas MacArthur's storied career is inextricably linked to Asia. His father, Arthur, served as Military Governor of the Philippines while Douglas was a student at West Point, and the younger MacArthur would serve several tours of duty in that country over the next four decades, becoming friends with several influential Filipinos, including the country's future president, Emanuel L. Quezon. In 1935, he became Quezon's military advisor, a post he held after retiring from the U.S. Army and at the time of Japan's invasion of 1941. As Supreme Commander for the Southwest Pacific, MacArthur led American forces throughout the Pacific War. He officially accepted Japan's surrender in 1945 and would later oversee the Allied occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951. He then led the UN Command in the Korean War from 1950 to 1951, until he was dismissed from his post by President Truman. In MacArthur in Asia, the distinguished Japanese historian Hiroshi Masuda offers a new perspective on the American icon, focusing on his experiences in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea and highlighting the importance of the general's staff-the famous "Bataan Boys" who served alongside MacArthur throughout the Asian arc of his career-to both MacArthur's and the region's history. First published to wide acclaim in Japanese in 2009 and translated into English for the first time, this book uses a wide range of sources-American and Japanese, official records and oral histories-to present a complex view of MacArthur, one that illuminates his military decisions during the Pacific campaign and his administration of the Japanese Occupation.

Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur PDF Author: Clark Lee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Generals
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description


Reconciliation Reconsidered

Reconciliation Reconsidered PDF Author: Tanya Smith Brice
Publisher: ACU Press
ISBN: 0891125973
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
Reconciliation Takes Time. A broad racial divide mars Churches of Christ, and courageous leaders from across the United States have joined together to listen to one another. Rather than adopt a posture of resignation, they have met for honest, God-honoring conversation. In Reconciliation Reconsidered, Tanya Brice pulls together the early fruit she has gleaned from this ongoing conversation about racial reconciliation. Learn about yourself in the context of community as you explore these key ideas: •Exercise truth-telling: it's what is needed before any reconciliation can happen •Discover how race relations are not as simple as you think •Challenge your stereotypes •Understand the meaning of current events like the Ferguson shooting in fresh ways •Revisit Christ's teachings with a careful eye toward discipleship and love of your neighbor •Each chapter concludes with discussion questions that can help you and others navigate this perplexing and difficult topic.

The Deserters

The Deserters PDF Author: Charles Glass
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101617810
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
“Powerful and often startling…The Deserters offers a provokingly fresh angle on this most studied of conflicts.” --The Boston Globe A groundbreaking history of ordinary soldiers struggling on the front lines, The Deserters offers a completely new perspective on the Second World War. Charles Glass—renowned journalist and author of the critically acclaimed Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation—delves deep into army archives, personal diaries, court-martial records, and self-published memoirs to produce this dramatic and heartbreaking portrait of men overlooked by their commanders and ignored by history. Surveying the 150,000 American and British soldiers known to have deserted in the European Theater, The Deserters: A Hidden History of World War II tells the life stories of three soldiers who abandoned their posts in France, Italy, and Africa. Their deeds form the backbone of Glass’s arresting portrait of soldiers pushed to the breaking point, a sweeping reexamination of the conditions for ordinary soldiers. With the grace and pace of a novel, The Deserters moves beyond the false extremes of courage and cowardice to reveal the true experience of the frontline soldier. Glass shares the story of men like Private Alfred Whitehead, a Tennessee farm boy who earned Silver and Bronze Stars for bravery in Normandy—yet became a gangster in liberated Paris, robbing Allied supply depots along with ordinary citizens. Here also is the story of British men like Private John Bain, who deserted three times but never fled from combat—and who endured battles in North Africa and northern France before German machine guns cut his legs from under him. The heart of The Deserters resides with men like Private Steve Weiss, an idealistic teenage volunteer from Brooklyn who forced his father—a disillusioned First World War veteran—to sign his enlistment papers because he was not yet eighteen. On the Anzio beachhead and in the Ardennes forest, as an infantryman with the 36th Division and as an accidental partisan in the French Resistance, Weiss lost his illusions about the nobility of conflict and the infallibility of American commanders. Far from the bright picture found in propaganda and nostalgia, the Second World War was a grim and brutal affair, a long and lonely effort that has never been fully reported—to the detriment of those who served and the danger of those nurtured on false tales today. Revealing the true costs of conflict on those forced to fight, The Deserters is an elegant and unforgettable story of ordinary men desperately struggling in extraordinary times.