American Caesar

Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964

De: William Manchester

Narrado por: Grover Gardner

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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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.

Engaging

Very informative — obviously a lot of work went into this book. For my taste, I would have preferred a strict adherence to reporting and none of the author’s opinions. The book was written in the 1970’s, from a comfortable, middle class, lifestyle. The author had been involved in World War II, in the Pacific, 30 years earlier. It seems obvious to me, at least, that this experience and the intervening years could not help but color his views.

the details

I liked all the detail about his life. it provides great insight into the military and political battles.

EXCELLENT

This seems to be a well balanced picture of one of the greatest Americans. Manchester makes effort to point out the flaws in MacArthur's character as well as his genious as a military leader and statesmen.

If one reads one book on the life of this extrodinary man, this should be it.

Although, I did find I needed a dictionary at times to understand the author. And some may find some of the details a bit too much for thier liking.

Parker does an excellent job as narrator.

Despite the extranious details and PhD vocabulary, I found it gripping and truley enlighting to learn about one MacArthur's that spanned over 50 years as a military leader through both World Wars, Occupied Japan and the Korean War.

Moreover, I am saddened to realize that so many people of today are literally clueless as to what this one man has done for the world in terms of winning the war in the Pacific (along with
Fleet Admiral Nimitz), reconstruction of Japan, and shaping cold war policy in the wake of World
War II and the Korean War

Read or listen to the book to learn for yourself.

The baseline biography for MacArthur

Would you listen to American Caesar again? Why?

Yes. Grover Gardner delivers a wonderful reading of this classic biography. He voice is reminiscent of news reel narration from the '40s which provide the listener a feeling of nostalgia, this is especially true when he mispronounces several geographic names in Asia as well.

Who was your favorite character and why?

MacArthur. It's a book about MacArthur.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Grover Gardner?

Yes, but a period book set in the 1950's or before. His diction is quaint and he pronounces several words differently than current "broadcast" English.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No way, this covers the entire life of General MacArthur with almost 32 hours of narration.

Any additional comments?

Manchester comes across as a fan of General MacArthur emphasizing greatness and genius with regularity. I think he recognized the danger of the biography becoming a "puff piece" and tried to provide some counterpoint by covering many examples of MacArthur's flawed reasoning, decisions and aspects of character. Although a sentimental and glowing biography, I came away with the feeling of a relatively reasonably balanced depiction of a human being thrust in extraordinary circumstance doing the best that he could.