MACARTHUR by Mitchell Yockelson

MACARTHUR by Mitchell Yockelson

            As part of the series “The Generals,” this book features Douglas MacArthur – his military career, notoriety, and war campaigns. Dwelling much on his family history and personal life, the reader has an opportunity to feel more closely connected to MacArthur and his life. The personality of MacArthur is large. As is said at the beginning of the book, the point of it is to display to America this iconic general who shaped human history, not just American history, so much.
            I had previously read Washington of the same series and had high expectations of this book – particularly as it was my preferred of the two for the reason that I had already studied the life of Washington, but not MacArthur.
            So what did I think of it? I was mixed.
            While the book has a great deal of useful, and even somewhat interesting information, I came away from each reading with the feeling that it was over my head. I am not a military man and thus have a limited knowledge of it so I didn’t have expectations for myself to fully understand all the terms, but there was such a vast list of military names, terms, and the like that it sometimes detracted from the story as a whole. This is purely my opinion, however, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Some may want to have all the details of each individual next to his side, but I felt it to be unnecessary most of the time. I wanted to read about MacArthur and those vital companions of his, but not every single official he worked with. But again, this was my initial feeling.
            As I progressed through the book, it grew increasingly interesting - particularly after the halfway point as WWII came clearer into view. More time and effort seemed to be given to the campaigns he was in, and slightly less for names and terms, but I still skimmed through certain paragraphs which didn’t add much to the information I was looking for.
            All in all, a good book, but I feel it could have been better. I’m not sure if this resulted because of often being frustrated by MacArthur or if it came from my lack of “jiving” with the style and approach of the author. Perhaps it’s a combination of both. Either way, if you’re interested in reading about MacArthur and don’t mind a barrage of names and military terms, go for it. If you’re not interested, however, in all the officials he worked with (exaggerated, I know) and every commanding officer, you may want to consider another book.
            To end on a positive note: It was evident to me that Yockelson did a good deal of research for this reading. This was appreciated and can be a good reference for the future. I learned much on MacArthur and am grateful for the knowledge gained.