by A. J. Baime
First published 2018
Harry S. Truman seemed like an unlikely choice for history's spotlight. Roosevelt picked this small-town politician as his fourth-term running mate precisely because he appeared unremarkable. Truman had few enemies, solid judgment, and a reputation for hard work. Then Roosevelt died suddenly, catapulting Truman into the presidency while World War II still raged across two continents. In four tumultuous months, Truman faced decisions that would reshape the world. He oversaw the founding of the United Nations and navigated the Potsdam Conference with Stalin and Churchill. He learned about the secret Manhattan Project and witnessed Germany's surrender. He confronted the horrors emerging from liberated Nazi concentration camps. Most crucially, he decided whether to deploy the atomic bomb against Japan. Baime draws on previously unavailable documents to reconstruct these pivotal moments, showing how an ordinary man from Missouri grappled with extraordinary choices that would define the postwar world.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water
Setting: Missouri, Potsdam, Germany, Japan
Period: World War II
ebook · Transworld Digital