The Soldier from Independence: A Military Biography of Harry Truman, Volume 1, 1906-1919, Paperback

Revealing the little-known facts of Harry Truman's remarkable military performance, as a soldier and as a politician, The Soldier from Independence adds a whole new dimension to the already fascinating character of the thirty-third president of the United States. D. M. Giangreco shows how, as a field artillery battery commander in World War I, Truman was already making the hard decisions that he knew to be right, regardless of personal consequences.

Truman oversaw the conclusion of the Second World War, stood up to Stalin, and met the test of North Korea's invasion of the South. He also had the fortitude to defy Gen. Douglas MacArthur, one of America's most revered wartime leaders, and ultimately fired the Far East commander, often characterized as the American Caesar. Filling in the details behind these world-changing events, this military biography supplies a heretofore missing--and critical--chapter in the story of one of the nation's most important presidents. The Soldier from Independence recounts the World War I military adventure that would mark a turning point in the life of a humble man who would go on to become commander in chief.

D. M. Giangreco is a former editor of Military Review at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He is the award-winning author of fourteen books on military and sociopolitical subjects, including Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947 and United States Army: The Definitive Illustrated History. Alonzo L. Hamby is a distinguished professor emeritus of history at Ohio University. He is the recipient of a Harry S. Truman Library Institute Senior Fellowship and the Ohio Academy of History Distinguished Service Award.