Ike
An American Hero
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4.5 • 28 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
"A brilliantly vibrant and compulsively readable one-volume life of one of the giants of the twentieth century." —Michael Beschloss
“A clear-eyed, grand-scale biography. . . . [Eisenhower] provides a vivid lesson in leadership at just the moment when leadership is of such paramount importance to the nation and the world.”—David McCullough
Ike is acclaimed author Michael Korda's sweeping and enthralling biography of Dwight David Eisenhower, arguably America's greatest general and one of her best presidents—a remarkable man in an extraordinary time, the hero who won the war and thereafter kept the peace.
In this, the first single volume biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower to appear in decades, Michael Korda offers an honest and penetrating look at the general and president reverentially known as Ike.
Full of fascinating details and anecdotes drawn from a rich treasure of letters, diaries, and historical documents, Ike shows how Eisenhower’s genius as a commander and a leader, his generosity of spirit, and his devotion to duty were vital in achieving victory, and formed, in many ways large and small, the world in which we now live.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Characterizing Dwight Eisenhower as an American with a "big grin" and "long-limbed, loose American way of walking," this smitten biography demonstrates his heroism by dwelling on his World War II record as commander of Allied armies in Europe. Korda (Ulysses S. Grant) defends "the people's general" against criticisms leveled by subordinates and historians (Eisenhower's presidency flits by in an admiring 64 pages), but for all his fulsome comparisons of Eisenhower to Napoleon and Grant, the author's case is weak. Korda's approving gloss on Ike's "broad front" approach directing "all the Allied armies to engage the enemy at every point... until superior numbers inevitably ground the Germans down" because "he did not think a single, clever stroke would do it" makes Eisenhower sound like a terrible strategist. At best, Ike comes off as a competent diplomat-in-arms, enabling egomaniacs like Churchill, De Gaulle, Montgomery and Patton to cooperate, and soothing wife Mamie's anxieties over his glamorous secretary. Unfortunately, Eisenhower's self-effacing affability in this role means his story is usually upstaged by the colorful prima donnas around him. A more critical analysis might have made for a more interesting biography. Photos.
Customer Reviews
Outstanding
Well written and illuminating. A great read about an under appreciated American hero. Too bad we don’t have people like that around today.