Matthew Royal reviewed American Caesar by William Manchester
Review of 'American Caesar' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Phew! This was a long book for me -- I like to keep them around 300 pages.
Great insight into General Douglas MacArthur, in a time when several larger-than-life personalities drive our political scenes. I have a naturally skeptical nature, and growing up hearing that MacArthur was a True Hero and defender of the United States against communism, I was looking forward to a more factual account of the man, his strategies, and the environment in which he operated. There's definitely that in this book: the feeling that things could have gone very differently with somewhat different decisions made, and not always the right ones were.
Particularly MacArthur in the Philippines and Japan was fascinating. That he could so totally understand the culture there and miss the subtle cues from China is baffling. He had a huge ego, but a huge character and charisma to match. He was self-aware enough …
Phew! This was a long book for me -- I like to keep them around 300 pages.
Great insight into General Douglas MacArthur, in a time when several larger-than-life personalities drive our political scenes. I have a naturally skeptical nature, and growing up hearing that MacArthur was a True Hero and defender of the United States against communism, I was looking forward to a more factual account of the man, his strategies, and the environment in which he operated. There's definitely that in this book: the feeling that things could have gone very differently with somewhat different decisions made, and not always the right ones were.
Particularly MacArthur in the Philippines and Japan was fascinating. That he could so totally understand the culture there and miss the subtle cues from China is baffling. He had a huge ego, but a huge character and charisma to match. He was self-aware enough to realize the need for modesty, and I feel I can relate to that. He was an interesting, complicated man who made a huge mark on history, but was ultimately destroyed because of his inability to work with others. His greatest years could have been after his tussle with Truman, had he analyzed them with the same depth he analyzed eastern history and culture.
This biographer, William Manchester has an interesting narrative voice. At times, he waxes poetic. He worships MacArthur, while admitting some flaws. Overall, I never found I could settle into completely trusting him, because of his strong partisan opinions favoring MacArthur. I haven't read his work before, but this could be an excellent device of his -- amidst rousing accounts of hysterical throngs longing to see MacArthur, some even calling him "God" toward the end of his life -- encouraging distrust so that the reader never completely loses himself in this portrait of hero worship.