Truman: A Centenary Remembrance

by Robert H. Ferrell

Two hundred photographs help trace the life of Harry S. Truman and recount his political career as judge, senator, vice-president, and president

Genres: Biography, History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Robert Hugh Ferrell was an American historian and author of several books on Harry S. Truman and the diplomatic history of the United States. He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during the Second World War and was an intelligence analyst in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He received a B.S. in Education from Bowling Green State University in 1946 and a PhD from Yale University in 1951, where he worked under the direction of Samuel Flagg Bemis and his dissertation won the John Addison Porter Prize. He went on to win the 1952 Beer Prize for his first book, Peace In Their Time, a study of the making of the Kellogg-Briand Pact.

He taught for many years at Indiana University in Bloomington, starting as an Assistant Professor in 1953 and rising to Distinguished Professor of History in 1974. He has held several notable visiting professorships, including Yale University in 1955 and the Naval War College in 1974.

Reviews

[Gary Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

34th book read in 2016.

Number 205 out of 527 on my all time book list.

Review Pending:

[Matthew Kemp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snappy, well-written biography of Truman, an enjoyable read that provides a brief snapshot of Truman’s life and presidency. Particularly of interest was the interplay of political events and family life and the intertwining effect on Truman as a man and how he conducted himself.

The shortfall is largely in the latter third of the book as it suffers from an overly hagiographic pro-Truman take on events. There is a degree of this bias evident in the book as whole as it is clearly written by someone who is a fan of Truman's agenda and policies, etc., but situations and people are portrayed more fairly for the first two-thirds of the book.

[Donn Urban · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally, an interesting book, although I had to ask askance at some of the things the author claims, like how poor Truman was while President, when research says he was making $100,000 a year, which ain't too bad today, but I think it was a whole lot more back then. All in all, though, Truman was a pretty interesting guy, which makes for an interesting book. A lot of pretty good pictures, too. Bought it for $3 at McKay books in Tennessee.