William Manchester

The bestselling classic that indelibly captures the life and times of one of the most brilliant and controversial military figures of the twentieth century."Electric...Tense with the feeling that this is the authentic MacArthur...Splendid reading." -- New York TimesInspiring, outrageous... A thundering paradox of a man. Douglas MacArthur, one of only five men in history to have achieved the rank of General of the United States Army. He served in World Wars I, II, and the Korean War, and is famous for stating that "in war, there is no substitute for victory."American Caesar examines the exemplary army career, the stunning successes (and lapses) on the battlefield, and the turbulent private life of the soldier-hero whose mystery and appeal created a uniquely American legend.

From tales of chivalrous knights to the barbarity of trial by ordeal, no era has been a greater source of awe, horror, and wonder than the Middle Ages. In handsomely crafted prose, and with the grace and authority of his extraordinary gift for narrative history, William Manchester leads us from a civilization tottering on the brink of collapse to the grandeur of its rebirth - the dense explosion of energy that spawned some of history's greatest poets, philosophers, painters, adventurers, and reformers, as well as some of its most spectacular villains - the Renaissance.

Universally acclaimed for their compelling narrative, their fresh insights, and their objective renderings of Winston Churchill's life, The Last Lion trilogy presents a revelatory and unparalleled portrait of this brilliant, flawed, and dynamic adventurer, aristocrat, soldier, and statesman. Born at the end of the 19th century when Imperial Britain still stood at the splendid pinnacle of her power, Churchill would witness the shift a few years later as the Empire hovered on the brink of a catastrophic new era. One of the greatest wartime leaders of our time, he would go on to stand alone, politically isolated in Parliament, as he took the lead in warning of the growing Nazi threat, and would lead Britain to victory against Nazi Germany and the Axis powers in World War II. Now, celebrated historian William Manchester's landmark biographies are collected together for the first time, along with the eagerly anticipated final installment Churchill's last years in power. More than thirty years in the making, The Last Lion is the definitive work on this remarkable man whose courageous vision guided the destiny of a nation during darkly troubled times-and who looms as one of the greatest figures of our century.

This emotional and honest novel recounts a young man's experiences during World War II and digs deep into what he and his fellow soldiers lived through during those dark times.The nightmares began for William Manchester 23 years after WW II. In his dreams he lived with the recurring image of a battle-weary youth (himself), "angrily demanding to know what had happened to the three decades since he had laid down his arms." To find out, Manchester visited those places in the Pacific where as a young Marine he fought the Japanese, and in this book examines his experiences in the line with his fellow soldiers (his "brothers"). He gives us an honest and unabashedly emotional account of his part in the war in the Pacific. "The most moving memoir of combat on WW II that I have ever read. A testimony to the fortitude of man...a gripping, haunting, book." --William L. Shirer

s/t: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory 1874-1932When Winston Spencer Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace, Imperial Britain stood at the splendid pinnacle of her power. Yet within a few years, the Empire would hover on the brink of a catastrophic new era. This first volume of the best-selling biography of the adventurer, aristocrat, soldier, and statesman covers the first 58 years of the remarkable man whose courageous vision guided the destiny of those darkly troubled times and who looms today as one of the greatest figures of the 20th century. Black and white photos & illustrations.

In this powerful biography, the middle volume of William Manchester’s critically acclaimed trilogy, Winston Churchill wages his defining campaign: not against Hitler’s war machine but against his own reluctant countrymen. Manchester contends that even more than his leadership in combat, Churchill’s finest hour was the uphill battle against appeasement. As Parliament received with jeers and scorn his warnings against the growing Nazi threat, Churchill stood alone—only to be vindicated by history as a beacon of hope amid the gathering storm. Praise for The Last Lion: Alone “Manchester has such control over a huge and moving narrative, such illumination of character . . . that he can claim the considerable achievement of having assembled enough powerful evidence to support Isaiah Berlin’s judgment of Churchill as ‘the largest human being of our time.’”—The New Yorker “Memorable.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Stirring . . . As Manchester points out several times, it’s as if the age, having produced a Hitler, then summoned Churchill as the only figure equal to the task of vanquishing him. The years Alone are the pivotal years of Churchill’s career.”—The Boston Sunday Globe “The best Churchill biography [for] this generation . . . Even readers who know the basic story will find much that is new.”—Newsweek “A triumph . . . equal in stature to the first volume of the series.”—Newsday “Vivid . . . history in the grand manner.” —The Washington Post “Compelling reading.”—The Times (London)

Spanning the years of 1940-1965, The Last Lion picks up shortly after Winston Churchill became Prime Minister—when his tiny island nation stood alone against the overwhelming might of Nazi Germany. The Churchill conjured up by William Manchester and Paul Reid is a man of indomitable courage, lightning fast intellect, and an irresistible will to action.The Last Lion brilliantly recounts how Churchill organized his nation's military response and defense; compelled FDR into supporting America's beleaguered cousins, and personified the "never surrender" ethos that helped the Allies win the war, while at the same time adapting himself and his country to the inevitable shift of world power from the British Empire to the United States.More than twenty years in the making, The Last Lion presents a revelatory and unparalleled portrait of this brilliant, flawed, and dynamic leader. This is popular history at its most stirring.

On a lovely October evening in 1961 President Kennedy and William Manchester sat in the Oval Room of the White House, talking for three and a half hours. At first the discussion was detached; Mr. Manchester was writing his Portrait of a President. But soon they were conversing as two men do who have lived many of the same years in the same places. Both were natives of Massachusetts. As a World War II Marine on Guadalcanal, Manchester had been separated by only a narrow strait from Kennedy's PT-109 base on Tulagi. They had both been awarded Purple Hearts before leaving the Pacific. Now they were fathers of daughters the same age, had traveled in the same foreign countries, and shared a deep interest in American history.More than two years later, following the assassination of President Kennedy, Mrs. Kennedy realized that she and others would be obliged to share their recollections of the national tragedy with a responsible writer--and so she and Senator Robert Kennedy asked Mr. Manchester to set down a history of the assassination and the days immediately preceding and following it.At the invitation of the Chief Justice, Mr. Manchester was a privileged observer of the Warren Commission inquiry. Meanwhile, however, he had developed his own sources of information. Operating out of headquarters in the National Archives, for two years he worked twelve to fifteen hours a day, conducting a major historical investigation throughout Texas and elsewhere, accumulating forty-five volumes and portfolios of transcribed tapes, shorthand, documents and exhibits, all of which will be deposited in the Kennedy Library. Finally, in New England, he completed a 350,000-word manuscript, not for scrutiny by the family but to set down as a whole the national and personal tragedy.The result is a powerful narrative which, in the opinion of the publisher, is both a significant contribution to history and an eminent literary achievement.

This great time capsule of a book captures the abundant popular history of the United States from 1932 to 1972. It encompasses politics, military history, economics, the arts, science, fashion, fads, social change, sexual mores, communications, graffiti - everything and anything indigenous that can be captured in print.Masterfully compressing four crowded decades of our history, The Glory and the Dream relives the epic, significant, or just memorable events that befell the generation of Americans whose lives pivoted between the America before and the America after the Second World War. From the Great Depression through the second inauguration of Richard M. Nixon, Manchester breathes life into this great period of America's growth.

A masterwork of history restored to print and made available for the first time in trade paperback.In this massive, compellingly readable book, America's preeminent biographer/historian brings to life Europe's richest, most powerful family, a 400-year dynasty that developed the world's most technologically advanced weapons (from cannons to submarines to anti-aircraft guns); provided arms to generations of German leaders, including the Kaiser and Hitler; operated private concentration camps during the Nazi era; survived conviction at Nuremberg; and wielded enormous influence on the course of world events. William Manchester's account of the rise and fall of the Krupp dynasty is history as it should be written, alive with all its terrifying power.

Enriched with anecdotes, this portrait of John Kennedy explores his relationships with his father, brother Robert, family, friends, and confidants and discusses his use of an old political machine in an attempt to create a new vision of society

s/t: The Life of H.L. Mencken This fine biography of H.L. Mencken tells of how he rose to his unique position as comic genius and pre-eminent critic of American culture.

This is an inside look at the man who was our 35th president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Manchester was his friend, so he gives him to us close up, life size, warts and all. In an epilogue in this revised edition, the author discusses the man, his time, and his place in history.

Spanning the years of 1940-1965, THE LAST LION picks up shortly after Winston Churchill became Prime Minister-when his tiny island nation stood alone against the overwhelming might of Nazi Germany. The Churchill conjured up by William Manchester and Paul Reid is a man of indomitable courage, lightning fast intellect, and an irresistible will to action. THE LAST LION brilliantly recounts how Churchill organized his nation's military response and defense; compelled FDR into supporting America's beleaguered cousins, and personified the "never surrender" ethos that helped the Allies win the war, while at the same time adapting himself and his country to the inevitable shift of world power from the British Empire to the United States. More than twenty years in the making, THE LAST LION presents a revelatory and unparalleled portrait of this brilliant, flawed, and dynamic leader. This is popular history at its most stirring.

“Written with verve, intellectual sophistication, and a prickly wit worthy of its eminent subject. . . . A first-class piece of literate entertainment” (The New Yorker). Before he went on to become a celebrated biographer and historian, renowned for such works as A World Lit Only by Fire, American Caesar, and The Last Lion, William Manchester worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun in the 1940s—and it was there that he met fellow journalist H. L. Mencken. This book tells the story of conservative, anarchist H. L. Mencken’s life in compelling, intimate detail—and offers a uniquely personal look at the influential cultural critic and satirist who cofounded the magazines the American Mercury and the Smart Set and became a legend for his sharp and highly quotable wit.

In the Glory and the Dream William Manchester springs open a great time capsule of a book- a huge, abundant popular history of the United States from 1932 to 1972.

The world as seen by Magnum photographers, capturing the past fifty years of world events in over three hundred photographs, created by some of the best-known photographers in the world.

American Caesar 2American Caesar 2 is a quest for MacArthur, a man who has gained an extreme reputation of praise and adoration, contempt and disgust at the stages of history and politics. On the other hand, it was full of vanity, and it was an incarnation of self-centeredness that did not tolerate even criticism with caution in the declining later years. A noble, mean, arrogant, shy, ridiculous, sublime, paradoxical character that has thus far been divided. The author, William Manchester, succinctly depicts birth, growth, love, family, as well as friendship and hostility around him, in concise style and balance. At the age of fifty four, the beloved government, who has four stars on his shoulders, appears in his mothers eyes. Even as the ruler of a ruler, American Caesar-MacArthur Peace is an interesting book that tells the story of MacArthurs flesh.

An in-depth journey through America and the world in the postwar years, from a New York Times -bestselling historian and biographer.Among his many accomplishments, William Manchester was especially known for his book The Death of a President , the award-winning account of the assassination of John F. Kennedy that embroiled him in a lawsuit filed by Jackie Kennedy. The title essay in this collection recounts the experience of publishing that book, and of his battle with JFK's widow.In addition, Controversy includes a wide range of journalistic pieces published in the period between World War II and Vietnam, covering McCarthyism to Watergate and highlighting the insights and observations of a distinguished career that earned the author the National Humanities Medal and the Abraham Lincoln Literary Award, among other honors."A work of love, even passion. . . . Mr. Manchester's final telling of the death of Kennedy is most moving." --Gore Vidal

845 pages

extremely rare,very good condition

ok at a controversial American figure, based on meticulous, three-years' worth of research.

THE GLORY AND THE DREAM: A NARRATIVE HISTORY OF AMERICA 1932-1972 is history at its most detailed and finest. It covers an incredible array of the "major events, sensational happenings, and news-making personalities from the Great Depression through the second inauguration of Richard M. Nixon." By no means, a stark, dry collection of minutiae, Manchester breathes life into the great periods of America's growth."Manchester has an uncanny ability to give his readers an almost tactile sense of the past and to make them feel. 'So that's how it was!'" (Christian Science Monitor)

一战后的美国迅速的从繁荣进入史无前例的“大萧条”。倡导革新的罗斯福总统推进蓝鹰计划，平衡“左”右势力，稳定国内局势。而在德意日三国的扩张面前，国内的孤立情绪却让罗斯福无能为力。法国沦陷，美国开始介入战争，“珍珠港事件”爆发，美国参战。罗斯福发表演说：“相信我们唯一恐惧的只是恐惧本身”。

标准石油公司、洛克菲勒基金会、联合国总部、大通银行、洛克菲勒中心、现代艺术博物馆、芝加哥大学……洛克菲勒家族在美国历史中，可以说是无处不在。洛克菲勒家族的庞大遗产始于俄亥俄州克利夫兰一名16岁的簿记员，他的理想就是赚10万美元并活到100岁。这个年轻人就是约翰·D·洛克菲勒，他在51岁时达到事业的巅峰，美国几乎所有的原油都是在他的企业炼制。洛克菲勒家族的人本可以让客人们骑上白马，踩着水晶鞋为客人端上香槟，但是他们没有。一个多世纪以来，他们一直过着节制的生活，新一代的接班人也没有任何胡作非为的迹象。如果洛克菲勒家族的人都是些专制霸道的人，就像某些财富只有洛克菲勒家族一小部分的美国人那样，那么他们一定很享受金钱带来的一切。但是，洛克菲勒家族的人并没有这样，而是将自己的财富视为历史上的一件怪事。他们在投身慈善的同时，并没有十分关注这些善举所吸引的目光。

美国参战，二战局势开始逆转，欧洲战场节节胜利，盟军光复法国，在太平洋战场，日本已经开始溃败并收缩。罗斯福逝世，杜鲁门接任，二战最终胜利。美国成为世界领袖，而欧洲的重建和亚洲的热战，开始让美国应接不暇。此时，美国文化开始繁荣，并跟随经济和军事迈向全球，玛丽莲·梦露成为了美国偶像。

“垮掉的一代”走上历史舞台，而“麦卡锡主义”在政坛的肆虐，罗莎·帕克斯成为压到美国种族歧视的“最后一根稻草”。娱乐至上的精神、反共产主义的浪潮和反种族歧视的冲突，共同构成了这这段时间的美国。处在嘈杂与前进中的美国却未意识到宣扬自己的繁荣富强，或将会被视为一种令人无法忍受的自大。

肯尼迪总统和美国都被卷入了越南的丛林。登月的成功刚冲淡了国民头顶的愁云，肯尼迪遇刺身亡又再次震撼了这个国家。嬉皮士的风潮和毒品的泛滥改变了一代人的思想。马丁·路德·金的遇刺则彻底激起了种族的冲突。中美建交让尼克松成为了跨时代的人物，而“水门事件”则又让他声名狼藉。制度依然在进步，生活依然在提高，但曾经的光荣与梦想最终变成了平静生活中的回忆。