Product Description

*8-page photo section
* 6 x 9

"Dear Harry taps into the Truman era in a way no other book has. It is a grand collection, lively, full of surprise, insight, humor, and humility. In all a very welcome event!"--David McCullough (book jacket)

"D. M. Giangreco and Kathryn Moore with prodigious effort have plowed through countless files of letters. . . . In Dear Harry we are treated to a fascinating selection."--George M. Elsey, Administrative Assistant to President Truman

Through his research at the Truman Library, D. M. Giangreco has collected hundreds of letters to (and from) Harry S. Truman. Approximately 300 of the most interesting ones appear in this book, interspersed with insightful commentary on the major issues of the time: race relations, World War II, the atomic bomb, the Cold War, the MacArthur firing, and McCarthyism. The authors also reveal the inner workings of the White House, as well as providing heretofore unknown glimpses of Truman.

D. M. Giangreco, an editor for Military Review, is the author of several military history books. He was recently awarded the Moncado Prize by the Society for Military History for his article, Casualty Projections for the U.S. Invasions of Japan, 1945: Planning and Policy Implications.

Kathryn Moore, formerly a historical interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg, teaches history in Lee's Summit, Missouri. Dear Harry is her first book and she is currently working on a biography of Martha Jefferson.

"Truman was also rather unappreciative of the efforts of organized pressure groups who tried to influence his actions by sending him mounds of preprinted cards or letters on some bill or project they proposed. Less apparent were formula-type letters that, at first glance, appeared to be regular correspondence but were still easy to spot because of the similarity of wording. As early as his Senate days in 1935, he had been known to cermoniously burn such offerings."---from Dear Harry

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1693713 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

Review
His mail reflected the turbulent, dynamic postwar nation he inherited.... His folksy shoot-from-the-hip manner encouraged many more letters than he could read, or answer. -- The New York Times Book Review, Stanley Weintraub