Ike the Soldier
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the bestselling author of Plain Speaking and Lyndon comes this "vivid and consistently absorbing record of Dwight D. Eisenhower's military career" (Kirkus Reviews).
Bringing together thousands of hours of interviews with the men and women who were closest to him, Merle Miller has constructed a revealing and personal biography of the man who would become the supreme commander. From his childhood in Kansas to West Point, World War I, and Europe where he led the Allied Forces to a hard-won victory in World War II, Ike the Soldier goes behind the historic battles and into the heart and mind of Ike Eisenhower.
Miller has crafted the defining biography on the life of the thirty-fourth president, bringing more depth to the man many thought they knew. His strained relationships with his father, brothers, and son are brought into focus; as well as his love affair with his wife Mamie, and his relationship with Kay Summersby—his driver turned companion and confidante during WWII.
"An informed and balanced tribute to a world-class leader whose remarkable character gains greater luster with the passage of time." —Kirkus Reviews
"This is a highly enjoyable look at Ike's personal and official relationships with the people most important to him during the first 55 years of his life, including family, Army and Allied colleagues and heads of state." —Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
By the late author of Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman, this 896-page volume explores the kind of man Eisenhower was and how he developed as he did. Working with newly mined anecdotes and unpublished papers, Miller concentrates on the formation of Ike's character in his youth and then shows him in action. Brought into focus are his strained relationships with his father, his brothers, his son (John Eisenhower: "I think sometimes he considered me a sign that West Point had gone to hell'') and, in particular, his by no means placid marriage. His relationship with Kay Summersby, his wartime driver-companion-confidante, is gone into in more detail than elsewhere. Miller takes pains to explain that there is no evidence to support Truman's Plain Speaking statement that Ike considered divorcing Mamie during the war. This is a highly enjoyable look at Ike's personal and official relationships with the people most important to him during the first 55 years of his life, including family, Army and Allied colleagues and heads of state.
