American Caesar

Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964

By: William Manchester

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 31 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Virtually all Americans above a certain age hold strong opinions about Douglas MacArthur. They either worship him or despise him. Now, in this superb book, one of our most outstanding writers, after a meticulous three-year examination of the record, presents his startling insights about the man. The narrative is gripping, because the general's life was fascinating. It is moving, because he was a man of vision. It ends, finally, in tragedy, because his character, though majestic, was tragically flawed.

©1978 William Manchester (P)1991 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Listening to Parker, one imagines a jovial uncle delivering a slap on the back and sitting down to describe war experiences in a rich voice filled with humor and pathos. The 'you-are-there' quality grabs and holds. This is a carefully done, seamless audio presentation." ( AudioFile)

Best biography

I've listened to many biographies, and this one is the best. I'd never thought much about MacArthur before I listened to this book. I'd just thought he was an egotistical old general. Now I know that he was one of the towering figures of the last century. If you are interested in WWII, the Korean War, or a history of Japan, you need to listen to this book.

Loved it!

A true American hero in all senses of the word.
I wish he would have punched that coward Truman in the face.

Masterfully written and narrated.

Manchester is, of course, a genius. This book joins his works on Churchill and the Middle Ages as a beautiful literary tribute to their subjects and the craft. Manchester’s prose is perhaps the greatest of the American 20th Century.
He was aided by extraordinary subject matter. The General deserves volumes, and only Manchester could do him justice in one.
Gardner does really well narrating. He fits the time and subject matter, particularly as the narrative rolls into WWI and beyond.

Great read!

Great Read

It was great hearing information about so many important historic events through an important person that was there for all of those events.

A biography with great historical context

The author did a wonderful job of positioning the history into what is happening and how MacArthur would feel about it.

Mesmerizing

I picked this up for sale mainly because I love Grover Gardner. I ended up listening to the majority of this tome when I was hiking across Scotland and I could not possibly love it more. It was awfully educational for me and with my favorite narrator at the helm it was like a free Harvard lecture series. I wish there were more titles like this.

Thorough and detailed

MacArthur deserves to be better remembered. He's in jeopardy of being recalled merely as the guy Truman had to fire for insubordination. But he was a complex character: arrogant, brilliant, the consummate military commander, perennial outsider. Eventually, the powers that be found a proper use for him, keeping the Japanese busy while they focused on Europe. MacArthur was understandably a little paranoid given the way he was treated, but whether he ever understood how he was being used is a mystery this book never answers. Maybe it cannot be answered. The book is comprehensive in its scope, and the author works hard not to draw inferences unsupported by his sources. This is the virtue of good biography and also its shortcoming. Because why do we read biography if not to understand what the subject was thinking or feeling? For all the documentation about MacArthur and all the witnesses who knew him, there just isn't that much information about his internal life. Of course, MacArthur had a vested interest in cultivating his own version of himself. Manchester does about as well as anyone could in reconstructing MacArthur.

They don’t come like him anymore

My father, being a Marine veteran of World War II, had nothing good to say about MacArthur. I found out later that most Marines who served in that war shared his views. Based on his opinion alone, I disliked MacArthur, though I didn’t know why exactly.

While there are a couple of incidents in the book that reflect why the Marines couldn’t stand him, one being his refusal to award the 6th Marines a unit decoration while awarding one to the Army for the same action for the reason that the Marines already had enough decorations, I don’t understand the animosity. According to Manchester, he didn’t have much to do with the Marines except for one or two combined operations in the SW Pacific and at Inchon in the Korean War. I was intrigued to learn that he was very careful of his men’s lives and that it was Nimitz that was less so of the Marine lives, frequently ordering frontal assaults with inadequate softening bombardments, not to mention poorly supplying them for the task at hand. It was a great source of frustration to the Marines, when sharing space with GIs that the latter was so profusely supplied with eguipment, gear, food and luxuries when they themselves were near starvation and in rags.

All that aside, I have gained a huge appreciation of MacArthur. I agree with Manchester’s assertion that truly great men have great egos to match. But I really got the sense that he not only loved his job, but that he loved and deeply cared for HIS people, whether GI’s, Philippinos, the Japanese, the Corps at West Point.

This book convinced me he was a GOOD man, an excellent general and an exemplary leader. Seriously flawed, yes, but worthy of the adulation he craved. Well done.

Very interesting

This was a great book about a man an important time if history. Very long, but interesting the whole way through

Interesting

Long chapters (think more than 1 hr.) and some chapters you don't really want to stop at (you'll have to rewind unless you remember what the topic was).

Some extra opinions I feel like seep into the story as well, but idk if that's a requirement when learning about him, he made himself more controversial than he needed to be. I'm curious how his history would be written if from the Philippines, Japanese, or Korean lense.