Mr. Truman's War: The Final Victories of World War II and the Birth of the Postwar World - Softcover

Moskin, J. Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0700611843 ISBN 13: 9780700611843

Publisher: University Press of Kansas, 2002

Synopsis

This is the first paperback edition of a book the New York Times called "a pitch-perfect rendering" of a critical period in American and world history. Robert Moskin's engaging and readable volume chronicles the first five months of Harry Truman's presidency, encompassing not only the destruction and defeat of the Axis Powers in Germany and Japan, but also the dropping of the first atomic bombs, the birth of the United Nations, the death of colonialism, and the beginning of the Cold War.

From the summons to FDR's deathbed early on the morning of April 2, 1945, through the Japanese surrender on the deck of the USS Missouri, Moskin tracks this unexpected president through some of the most uncertain and trying times in our nation's life. A former Missouri farmer and county commissioner known by his trademark bow tie and steel-rimmed glasses, Truman had little experience in international affairs, having become vice president via a purely political compromise only five months earlier.

Despite his inexperience, he did not hesitate before enormous challenges that loomed over his first administration. He ordered the dropping of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs, refused Churchill's repeated request that he leave American troops in the Russian occupation zone of Germany, cut off supplies to de Gaulle's French army, and insisted that Japan surrender "unconditionally." And at the famous meeting with Stalin and Churchill at Potsdam, he more than held his own.

By the end of those first five months, Truman had transformed himself into a confident leader with a tenacious and unflinching commitment to American ideals in the face of new global challenges.

About this title

Review:

When Franklin D. Roosevelt died, the task of bringing about a swift end to World War II fell to Harry Truman. In Mr. Truman's War, J. Robert Moskin sets out to "pull together the varied, conflicting strands that made (the last five months of World War II) one of the crucial and exciting moments in the world's history." Moskin, who is also the author of The U.S. Marine Corps Story, points out that while much of the architecture of the postwar world had already been decided before Roosevelt's death, Truman was faced with a host of difficult decisions, including when and how to deploy the atomic bomb. Mr. Truman's War is a detailed and readable recounting of the closing chapter of World War II.

From the Inside Flap:

In his first three months in office President Harry Truman was forced to face the greatest challenges ever to confront a world leader--including the decision to drop the A-bomb, the beginning of the Cold War, and more. Now, the former foreign editor for Look magazine presents, for the first time, the dramatic story of Truman's first five months as president.

About this edition

• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0700611843
• ISBN 13: 9780700611843
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 430