Douglas Macarthur: The Far Eastern General

Book Description

In an army which eschewed flamboyance, General Douglas MacArthur possessed a unique flair. With his chiseled face, corn-cob pipe, and a voice which "could trumpet and drum," he looked the part of a "heaven born general." He was arguably the best-known and most popular American military leader of the 20th century, and at least one observer--General George E. Stratemeyer, MacArthur's top air officer in Japan--thought him "the greatest man in history." Yet the men who served in the trenches of Bataan sneeringly called him "Dugout Doug," FDR privately termed MacArthur's defense of Corregidor "criminal," and Truman called his vaunted "return" to the Philippines "a fiasco." In this eye-opening book, historian Michael Schaller offers an intimately detailed portrait of MacArthur, particularly the General's two decades in the Far East, demythologizing this "American Caesar" and providing an insightful analysis of American foreign policy in Asia during those years. Schaller's is far from a flattering portrait. He finds, for instance, that MacArthur's military record was less than impressive: not only did MacArthur leave direction of the army to subordinates (such as General Robert Eichelberger), but as a result of his failure to launch an air raid following word of the attack on Pearl Harbor, nearly all B-17s in the Philippines--the strongest American air concentration outside of the States--were destroyed on the ground. Indeed, Schaller reveals that MacArthur's Pacific island campaign during World War II, often hailed as brilliant, was far more costly and less decisive than previously assumed. Schaller is particulary deft at tracing MacArthur's futile attempts to become President and his destructive interference in foreign policy, such as his promise to local Dutch officials to restore their authority in the East Indies (even as FDR's administration pushed the Dutch to grant self-determination), his manipulation of policies in occupied Japan, and his constant attacks on Truman's policy in China, attacks which ruined any chance of improving relations with the largest nation in Asia. Finally, during the Korean War, Schaller argues that MacArthur willfully risked war with China and the Soviet Union to salvage his pride and humiliate his political enemies in Washington. Schaller's thought-provoking biography provides invaluable background to America's present relations with the Far East. It is as well an unforgettable portrait of a man driven by talent, opportunism, vision, egotism, and jealousy.

Customer Reviews:

A critique of one of the giants of American history.......2006-05-22

Douglas MacArthur was a giant in American history. Many people who knew him described him as the brightest man they ever met. All agreed that he generally aroused strong passions, most either loved or hated him. FDR is said to have repeatedly described him to his friends as "the most dangerous man" in America, and to have preferred him fighting in the Pacific rather than answering for various astounding lapses of judgment on his part in the United States, and then mulling a campaign for the presidency. The lapses of judgment attributed to him include not dispersing the airplanes under his command immediately after Pearl Harbor, a huge mistake, misjudging Chinese policy on Korea, and more. This isn't to deny that he didn't pull off strokes of pure genius, such as the landing at Inchon.

There are other biographies that do a better of job of recounting the many waypoints and events in MacArthur's life; this book is very useful to those seeking to understand MacArthur because it is critical, perhaps scathing, and willing to question his motivations, something that less serious biographies don't do.

Schaller documents, perhaps as the first historian to do so, the indisputable evidence that MacArthur accepted a gratuity of $600,000 from the Philippines, then an American territory, while he was involved in crafting American policy towards Philippines.

If you only plan to read a single biography of MacArthur, this is not your book; if you, however, want to read several biographies in order to get a really good understanding of MacArthur's life, and the many different ways he was perceived, this book will be indispensable to you on your quest.

Review of Literature.......2002-01-16

This Book did not grab me, but it did not bore me to death either. I found some parts in the book unnecessary while I found some parts were left out. I read this book for a school project and we had to anwser some specific questions about our"biography person" and this book did not anwser most of them. For example, one question was " What were some of Douglas's major contributions to society?" I read the book over twice- maybe even three times- and still could not find an anwser to my question. This predicament left me very dissatisfied and displeased.

Average customer rating:

Douglas Macarthur Far Eastern General.
Michael. Schaller
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OK8T9U

Douglas MacArthur. The Far Eastern General.

Average customer rating:

Douglas MacArthur. The Far Eastern General.
Michael. Schaller
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I38QXC

Book Description

In the face of daunting technical challenges and skepticism from leading scientists and engineers, Edison and his team of experimenters and machinists found the solution to the decades-old problem of creating a practical incandescent lamp. By focusing on the characteristics of the entire system Edison reconceptualized the requirements of a successful lamp design. While rivals worked primarily on lamps, Edison developed other parts of a complete system as well. This approach was most notable in his revolutionary work on generator technology, one of the highlights of this volume. Successful exhibitions of the system in December 1879 drew crowds to Menlo Park to witness the softly glowing lamps. These spectacles gratified his financial backers but Edison realized the importance of following experimental demonstrations with the hard work of commercial development. He needed to make each component work effectively in daily use and to improve the designs so that they were easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture. To create a daytime market for electricity he also developed electric motors for a variety of uses, including electric railways, for which he built a small demonstration line at Menlo Park. To accomplish all this Edison greatly enlarged his staff to as many as sixty experimenters, machinists, carpenters, and office workers. He began manufacturing lamps at a factory in Menlo Park. At the end of 1880, Edison was ready to move his system into commercial production and made plans to produce other components in New York. He also invited New York officials to a demonstration in order to win their approval for running underground lines in lower Manhattan where he planned to put his first commercial central station. In March 1881, he moved to the Edison Electric Light Company's headquarters on Fifth Avenue and began the hard work of introducing the new electric light and power technology.

Customer Reviews:

Thomas Alva Edison.......2006-03-28

Hi I read a book about Thomas Elva Edison. He was an inventor he invented the telephone, electricity, the light bulb, and the movie projector. When he was 16 he wanted to be an inventor. When he finished collage that's when he started to think of new inventions. His first invention was the telephone well he didn't invent it he helped Alexander Grand Bell finish it off. When he was 20 years old he invented the movie projector that was his biggest hit of all. Then he invented electricity and that led to the light bulb. By his inventions he's the biggest hit ever in history. All the people moved to the cities because of his new inventions. I sort of liked this book but it had a lot of facts I mean really my head was spinning. If they didn't have to many facts I would of probably loved it.

From The Publisher.......2004-11-16

The fifth volume of The Papers of Thomas A. Edison covers Edison's invention and development of the first commercial incandescent electric light and power system. In the process he turned his famed Menlo Park laboratory into the first true research and development facility. This also enabled him to develop a new telephone for the British market in the midst of his herculean efforts on electric lighting.

In the face of daunting technical challenges and skepticism from leading scientists and engineers, Edison and his team of experimenters and machinists found the solution to the decades-old problem of creating a practical incandescent lamp. By focusing on the characteristics of the entire system Edison reconceptualized the requirements of a successful lamp design. While rivals worked primarily on lamps, Edison developed other parts of a complete system as well. This approach was most notable in his revolutionary work on generator technology, one of the highlights of this volume. Successful exhibitions of the system in December 1879 drew crowds to Menlo Park to witness the softly glowing lamps. These spectacles gratified his financial backers but Edison realized the importance of following experimental demonstrations with the hard work of commercial development. He needed to make each component work effectively in daily use and to improve the designs so that they were easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture. To create a daytime market for electricity he also developed electric motors for a variety of uses, including electric railways, for which he built a small demonstration line at Menlo Park. To accomplish all this Edison greatly enlarged his staff to as many as sixtyexperimenters, machinists, carpenters, and office workers. He began manufacturing lamps at a factory in Menlo Park. At the end of 1880, Edison was ready to move his system into commercial production and made plans to produce other components in New York. He also invited New York officials to a demonstration in order to win their approval for running underground lines in lower Manhattan where he planned to put his first commercial central station. In March 1881, he moved to the Edison Electric Light Company's headquarters on Fifth Avenue and began the hard work of introducing the new electric light and power technology.

Customer Reviews:

Nice to have.......2007-08-23

This book is nice to have, but goes out of date almost before you can get it shipped. It's what it is, and I like to have it around the house.

The PDR Family Guide to Prescription Drugs.......2007-02-19

A ready reference for the family home, highly recommended.

Good but not enough.......2006-10-04

With big letter, easy to understand language (most of the time), sounds a good alternative than to buy the original PDR for medics (cheaper too). But lacks a lot of new medicines that had been inroduce to the market by the aggressive style of the pharmaceuticals. You can find basic and most common prescriptions drugs but today (2006), there are a lot more and probably, the next one your doctor recommends you.

Excellent reference, but ..........2005-09-29

This book is basically the same as The PDR Pocket Guide to Prescription Drugs, except in a different format. The physical dimensions of this book is larger, not as many pages, and the print is somewhat larger. Information on drugs is taken from the same source (Physicans Desk Reference). There are some brief chapters in the back of this book on common medical problems. This edition was published in 2002 (so it was based on the 2001 PDR). I would suggest the PDR Pocket Guide because it is more recent and there is a new edition of the Guide due out soon. Nonetheless this is an excellent reference book to have in your home. For some people the format and size of the book and additional chapters may make this a good choice. It is just a little dated.

The PDR Family Guide to Prescription Drugs.......2005-09-14

I found this publication to be exactly what I wanted as a reference book for prescription drugs. It has complete information about the drugs as well as color pictures of each.

Book Description

Fifty delicious, Good Housekeeping-tested recipes will lure budding chefs into the kitchen and start them off on a lifetime of good cooking. The brand-new spiral-bound format is easy to work with too!

Look, mom and dad: we cooked it ourselves! With every technique clearly shown, and a fun, accessible format, children will eagerly pull out the measuring cups, grab the mixing bowls, and begin preparing these temptingly tasty, kid-friendly dishes. And these are real, crowd-pleasing meals, including Scrumptious Scrambled Eggs, Surprise Burgers, Oven Roasted Chicken with Vegetables, and that all-time favorite: chocolate chip cookies.
Of course, Good Housekeeping lays out all the cooking and safety basics up front, from handling the food properly to using appliances correctly. (Parents will be pleased to know it also covers cleaning up!) Many of the recipes are illustrated with a color photograph. Every recipe tells how long the prep and cooking should take, has a difficulty rating, and gives guidelines on the amount of adult supervision needed.
Who better to trust your children with than Good Housekeeping!

Customer Reviews:

Encourages our future chefs.......1998-07-01

The photographs in this cookbook are superb. It contains good starter recipes for children as well.

The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Children's Cookbook

Average customer rating:

The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Children's Cookbook

Manufacturer: Good Housekeeping
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1588166279

Product Description

Spiral under boards children's cookbook.

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The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Children's Cookbook
Marianne Zanzarella
Manufacturer: Hearst Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1588162265

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As a rider, judge or horse show spectator, you need this book!

Developing an athlete

A must for any serious horse rider

A thorough and incomparable guide to horsemanship!

The Way to Perfect Horsemanship
Udo Burger
Manufacturer: Trafalgar Square Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Veterinary Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books
Equestrian | Horses | Individual Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

The Way to Perfect Horsemanship is an outstanding work in the vast literature devoted to horsemanship. It provides, for the first time, a clear insight into the psychological makeup of the horse, its muscular system, the mechanics of its movement, and the aids to human-to-horse communication. Udo Burger presents his philosophy of riding in a scientific manner, asserting that no one can no more learn to ride without a knowledge of horse physiology and psychology than one can learn the art of medecine without a background in health and disease. He clearly explains what one should feel and do on horseback--ultimately, as if one is part of the horse, completely united with it in all of its movements. Anyone with a genuine empathy for horses--wether teacher, trainer, competitor, or occasional rider--will benefit enormously from reading this classic work on horsemanship. The late Udo Burger was an accomplished horseman and one of Germany's most esteemed equine veterinarians.

Customer Reviews:

As a rider, judge or horse show spectator, you need this book!.......2006-09-01

Sadly out of print (2006), this book in either its German or English edition contains important images and text. Coeval with the recent popularity of riding in hyperflexion, as the Federation Equestre Internationale calls "round and deep," the classical development of the horse's mind and body have become "a little lost." Horses ridden in the exaggerated profile of hyperflexion during training are thought to be like "bows" with the spine the bow and the belly muscles the "string," as proposed by prominent advocates of this schooling method. A bow is much too simple an analogy to understand biomechanics of the horse's elastic system, as an examination of the last chapter in Burger's book indicates. That elastic system is diagrammed by Burger: it is shown with its diverse connective tissues of ligament, tendon, cartilage in relation to bones and important muscles. In the present dressage arena, many horses exhibit locked necks (teapot neck), flawed on the forehand trots, hang on the bit with the molar of the lower jaw (boring on the bit), even in Olympic competition. While not all the problems of modern competition may be laid at the doorstep of misunderstood biomechanics, the correlation (note I do not use the word "cause") with extreme flexions in many training agendas is hard to ignore. Burger, as a veterinarian, is very clear about the relation between training methods, the characteristics of Baroque, Thoroughbred and warmblood breeds and the heathy gymnastic progress of horses.

If all you do is compare Burger's correct images of horses jumping, riding cross country and in the dressage arena with photos in today's glossy publications, you will see what I mean. You will, even as a novice, understand what correct gaits mean in terms of a horse's performance and well-being. As a dressage judge, author and rider, I know that people in the audience as well as competitors can influence the elegance and harmony that unify sport and art. People ride how they are judged: a knowing audience provides important feedback to organizations that showcase their athletes in public. If you had only a few books in your library on horses, this one should be there.

I hope J. A. Allen (the publisher of my copy) reads the reviews on this page and reissues the book!

Developing an athlete.......2001-11-06

This book is exciting. It explains the the anatomical development of horses as we ride them. You get an insight how riding your horse correctly contributes to particular muscle development of the horse and how your horses motor physiology would not respond and find limitations when incorrectly ridden. Not easy reading but certainly a must for those who want to develop their horses into athletes.

A must for any serious horse rider.......2000-04-09

This book was recommended to me by a dressage judge. He lent me the original German version which I read 4 times in a row before returning it. I then ordered the English translation and read it another 3 times. Every time I did, I learnt hundreds of new things about riding. It is the most amazing riding book I have ever read. The only other one that comes to close to it is Museler's Riding Logic. The author ends the book by saying that he hopes, by writing this book and getting riders to understand them better, he is repaying his horses for serving him faithfully all those years. He has succeeded!

A thorough and incomparable guide to horsemanship!.......1998-12-10

The author combines his veterinary knowledge, his skill as a horseman and his unabashed love of horses to create the richest equine treatise I have ever read. Udo Burger emphasizes that as riders we must constantly strive to refine our sensitivity and therefore be capable of precise and subtle use our aids. It is only then that our horses may be gently and beautifully ridden. Dr. Burger's explanation of equine biomechanics is crucial to a rider's understanding of proper horsemanship. Anything less is unfair to our horses. Burger emphasizes that we must continue to study for the sake of our wonderful and generous equine companions. As the originator and teacher of the S.E.N.S.E. Method (bodywork and movement exercises for horse and rider), I can only applaud. Loudly. This is a book no horseperson should be without.

100 Ways to a Perfect Equine Partnership

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100 Ways to a Perfect Equine Partnership
Susan McBane
Manufacturer: David & Charles Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0715324853

Book Description

*The fifth in a series of equestrian "100 Ways" books from this popular author, which together have sold nearly 60,000 copies worldwide

*Each of the 100 features is illustrated with specially commissioned photographs

The bond a rider has with a horse is fundamental to the success they enjoy. With this guide, readers will learn how to be the owner or rider their horse would choose. With advice on improving leadership skills, consistency, and understanding of a horse's behavior, this essential guide covers all aspects of caring for and training a horse while encouraging a better physical and mental environment for both horse and rider.

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THE WAY TO PERFECT HORSEMANSHIP

Manufacturer: J A Allen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ID1ME2

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Novice quilter

This is an excellent book.

Sensational Sets and Borders (Rodale's Successful Quilting Library)
Sally Schneider
Manufacturer: Rodale Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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Innovative Piecing (Rodale's Successful Quilting Library)

ASIN: 0875967620

Book Description

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Sensational Sets amp; BordersDiscover lots of exciting new ways to arrange your stash of blocks in fresh, creative settings, and then surround them with a dynamic pieced or plain border. More than 200 quilter's-eye-view photos and clear step-by-step directions will guide you each step of the way.Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn:* Simple solutions for dealing with blocks that aren't the same size* How to size and fit borders so they never, ever ripple or wave* Sashing strategies that instantly add pizzazz to your quilts* An ingenious, time-saving way to join blocks together (cut your assembly time in half!)* The secrets to custom-fitting a pieced border* Dozens of clever ideas for straight and diagonal settingsAnd much, much more!

Customer Reviews:

Novice quilter.......1999-12-12

Sensational Sets & Borders is a must for beginning quilters. It gives step-by-step instructions that will assure a quality finished product.

This is an excellent book........1998-10-17

I showed this book to quilting friends and they either want to borrow it or buy their own. Very helpful and informitive.

Average customer rating:
Beyond Problem Solving and Comprehension - An Exploration of Quantitative Reasoning
Arthur Whimbey , and Jack Lochhead
Manufacturer: Lawrence Erlbaum
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Building on the methods and techniques presented in Problem Solving and Comprehension, the authors show how their methods can be used to manage more difficult problems and situations. By providing step-by-step solutions for problems of figural reasoning, chart and graph interpretation, verbal reasoning, and advanced mathematical word problems, the authors create an ideal book for gifted students and for those preparing to take standardized admissions tests for colleges and professional schools.

Book Description

The Okanagan Valley is noted for its fabulous climate, orchards and vineyards. It is no surprise that such a landscape would attract such an array of outstanding, world-renowned artists. In The Creative Voice, Gary Pearson records the voices, lives and beliefs of 34 of the Okanagan's most prominent artists. The result is a portrait of how art influences place and how place influences art.

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