David McCullough: Truman

• ISBN-13: 9780671869205
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 6/14/1993
• Pages: 1120

The life of Harry S. Truman is one of the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters - Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and Dean Acheson - and dramatic events. In this riveting biography, acclaimed historian David McCullough not only captures the man - a more complex, informed, and determined man than ever before imagined - but also the turbulent times in which he rose, boldly, to meet unprecedented challenges, the last president to serve as a living link between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. Truman's story spans the raw world of the Missouri frontier, World War I, the powerful Pendergast machine of Kansas City, the legendary Whistle-Stop Campaign of 1948, and the decisions to drop the atomic bomb, confront Stalin at Potsdam, send troops to Korea, and fire General MacArthur. Drawing on newly discovered archival material and extensive interviews with Truman's own family, friends, and Washington colleagues, McCullough tells the deeply moving story of the seemingly ordinary "man from Missouri" who was one of the most courageous presidents in history.

 So my specialty is East Asia and I've studied in both South Korea and Japan. And it's ridiculous that I knew nothing about Truman before reading this book.
 Once again, McCullough has written a book that I just want to go out and yell "READ THIS PLEASE FOR YOUR OWN SAKE." There is so much info packed into this massive tome and it's worth every page. Truman is one of those under-appreciated presidents who gains from history. When he left office, his approval rating was pretty low. Then again, the Korean War was drawing out longer than anyone had anticipated (thanks to MacArthur and several other factors, but I really dislike MacArthur and I wrote two papers about it last year) and America just wanted her boys home. Looking back, history has decided that Truman was one of the best presidents this nation has had. I'm inclined to agree. He's definitely in my top five. He came from small-town nowhere and was associated with machine politics, thought to be a weakling who followed where he was told. He turned out to be a no-nonsense president who, when he had the responsibility thrust upon him by FDR's death, took the reins and did what he believed was right, even if the road was going to be a hard one. Don't even get me started on what a dick FDR was, not talking to his VP at all despite his failing health, thus setting Truman up for failure. Seriously, people. The vice-president becomes president if the president dies, just it's probably a good idea to keep him in the loop. And there's a summary of my rant.
 We're also introduced to Dean Acheson and George Marshall, two of the greatest Secretaries of State that ever lived, in my opinion. There's also a lot of great information on them.
 Anywho. McCullough is always extremely thorough, which I love. He follows Truman from birth to death, and explains the reasoning behind many of Truman's decisions and the difficulties he faced in making those decisions. When it comes down to it, Truman was straight-forward and strong-willed, which I love. Seriously, friends - go read it. It's great history and you will learn so much more than you anticipate.
Overall: A+
 Such good. Much wow.

David McCullough: John Adams

• ISBN-13: 9780743223133
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 9/3/2002
• Pages: 752

In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life-journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second President of the United States and save the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as "out of his sense"; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the moving love stories in American history. 
 This is history on a grand scale - a book about politics and war and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas.  Above all, John Adams is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.

 If you knew me at all, you would know that I am a huge fan of the Revolutionary period of American history (and just kind of history in general, but ya know...). So this book was right up my alley, obviously. Little did I know how very much I was going to learn.
 First, I would like to emphasize that David McCullough is one of my favorite history authors. He's interesting - he tells the story in a way that doesn't make it seem like a rote repetition of facts. He also makes you really feel like you know these people, or at least feel comfortable with the personalities of these long dead personages. Side note: Does anyone realize that it has been almost two hundred years since the death of the last signers of the Declaration of Independence? That is so fascinating to me. Side note over. So, I would recommend any and all of David McCullough's books.
 Now, on to John Adams. Before reading this book, I would have said that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were my two favorite Presidents. They had no precedence, and they managed to turn a fledgling nation into a country with a navy strong enough to defeat the best navy in the world, where democracy thrived and the turn over of power was peaceful - something rarely seen in the world previously. So yeah, they were some pretty amazing guys. However, now I understand that the period of John Adams' presidency was not just a lull in events without interest or achievement. And John Adams was not the staunch man history has created - he did not refuse to compromise, nor was he a warmonger, as he has been portrayed.
 I find the man fascinating, and he was one of the greatest minds of his time. He could read multiple ancient languages, so he was reading Cicero in its original Latin, and he also taught himself French for his time as ambassador to France. Well done, sir. He was also a fairly prolific writer, although at times his rhetoric could  get heated. I don't blame him. People are massively stupid as a species.
 Now that I've ranted about what a fabulous person John Adams was, I think you've gotten an idea of how great this book was. They based a mini-series on it, if you didn't know. I haven't watched that, but I always recommend reading the book before you watch the TV show/movie/what-have-you.
 Overall: A+
 I loved this book, although it did kind of destroy my mental image of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington in the process. But then, of course, as we get older we are forced to accept that people are people and everybody has flaws. That doesn't make them any less great than they were. After reading John Adams, however, you begin to believe that maybe some people were greater than you've heard.

David McCullough: The Great Bridge

• Paperback: 562 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (January 12, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067145711X

This monumental book is the enthralling story of one of the greatest events in our nation's history, during the Age of Optimism - a period when Americans were convinced in their hearts that all things were possible. 
In the years around 1870, when the project was first undertaken, the concept of building an unprecedented bridge to span the East River between the great cities of Manhattan and Brooklyn required a vision and determination comparable to that which went into the building of the great cathedrals. Throughout the fourteen years of its construction, the odds against the successful completion of the bridge seemed staggering. Bodies were crushed and broken, lives lost, political empires fell, and surges of public emotion constantly threatened the project. But this is not merely the saga of an engineering miracle; it is a sweeping narrative of the social climate of the time and of the heroes and rascals who had a hand in either constructing or exploiting the surpassing enterprise.

 I have been ranting about The Great Bridge pretty much since I finished it yesterday. I absolutely adored this book. There were some dry bits, certainly, but overall I think it was brilliant.
 The story is about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, both the people involved and the surrounding political climate and its effects on the bridge. I was most amazed by chief engineer Washington Roebling. First off, this guy was a genius. He had almost total recall and at times appeared that he wasn't focusing much on what he was seeing or being told, but could later write it all down in all its details. He was not one to be swayed by the politics of the day and he fought physical illness to complete the bridge in fourteen years, not a moment of which was he able to relax or leave behind the pressures of having a gigantic public work resting almost solely on his shoulders. The admiration I have for this man is boundless. His wife was a force to be reckoned with too, and I can only really say that it's a rare American who has the courage and moral backbone that these people had.
 But he is only one part of the story McCullough weaves. While there are the noble men, like the Roeblings, there are the devious men like Tweed and Kingsley, and the men who were just out for themselves like Slocum and Hewitt. Several times the political maneuverings of the Directors and Trustees placed in charge of bringing the bridge to fruition with a minimum of cost and effort were the ones who almost destroyed it. Aside from the personalities of the people involved and the amazing fact that the bridge got built at all, the bridge itself was a feat of engineering that still stands with little maintenance. The amount of deaths over fourteen years were very few, especially for the times, and most of the deaths were the result of the idiocy of the men involved, not the machinery or the engineering. What was more impressive was the fact that everything went smoothly and almost entirely to plan. Incredible.
 McCullough tells the story in a coherent manner that doesn't leave the reader confused or fumbling for answers. While at times the technical side of bridge got to be a little much for someone who isn't an engineer or initiated into the mathematics of physics, those parts were fairly brief and bearable. I don't know why McCullough had to give those details, other than as an exhibition of his knowledge or to impress with the sheer mass of the components of the bridge. But if you like math, then...power to you.
Overall: A+
 I obviously loved this book and I would recommend everyone read it, even if history isn't your thing. If nothing else, it's a glimpse of New York and Brooklyn in the late 1800's.