MacArthur at War

MacArthur at War: World War II in the Pacific
by Walter R. Borneman

In predawn darkness the black telephone rang loudly. The general’s wife lifted the receiver from its cradle on the nightstand in the Manila Hotel penthouse suite’s master bedroom and hesitantly answered it. Telephone calls in the middle of the night were rarely a good thing. The caller identified himself and said he must speak to the general. She passed the receiver to her husband. “Yes?” he answered as if on duty, which indeed he always was. His face grew increasingly taut and his jaw set as he heard his chief of staff’s report. Only then did he show surprise. “Pearl Harbor?” Douglas MacArthur asked incredulously. “It should be our strongest position.”

So begins this definitive account of General Douglas MacArthur’s rise during World War II, from the author of the bestseller The Admirals.
World War II changed the course of history and Douglas MacArthur changed the course of World War II.   MacArthur at War will go deeper into this transformative period of his life than previous biographies, and exploring how personality and ego translate into military successes and failures.

Walter R. Bornemand is a master at conveying the complicated evolution of military strategy during World War II. Architect of stunning triumphs and inexplicable defeats, General MacArthur is the most intriguing military leader of the twentieth century. This in-depth study of the most critical period of his career shows how MacArthur’s influence spread far beyond the war-torn Pacific.