Book Blurb:
A Five-Star Book about a Five-Star General
In 1938 he was a lieutenant colonel stationed in the Philippines; by 1945 the world proclaimed him its savior. From leading the forces of liberal democracy against history's most evil tyrant to the presidency, Dwight D. Eisenhower fought for and kept the peace during the most dangerous era in history.
The Eisenhower Chronicles dramatizes Ike's life, portraying his epic journey from unknown soldier to global hero as only a novel could. He is shown working with icons such as FDR, Winston Churchill, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and confronting challenges like D-Day, the Little Rock Crisis, and Sputnik.
Eisenhower's legacy is grounded in defending the world from fascism, communism, and nuclear weapons. This novel shows how he accomplished it all and takes readers into his mind and soul, grounding the history in the man who made it.
*****
"An ambitious novel that illuminates the complexity of one of the great figures of the twentieth century. Ike's homespun manner concealed a remarkably skilled, at times Machiavellian, leader who guided the nation through perilous times. M.B. Zucker brings us inside Eisenhower's world as he wrestles with a series of decisions affecting the survival of free government and the fate of humanity. This is a fun, fast-paced, informative read that captures the man and his times. Highly recommended."
Stephen F. Knott, Professor of National Security at the Naval War College and author of Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/eisenhowerchronicles
Author Bio:
M. B. Zucker lives with his wife in Northern Virginia.
He began writing when he was in middle school. He wrote his first novel, "Lio: King of the Carnivores," when he was fourteen, and his second novel, "A Great Soldier in the Last Great War," when he was sixteen. Both became Amazon bestsellers.
His first adult novel is "The Eisenhower Chronicles," a three volume biographical novel about Dwight Eisenhower. The novel is told through a series of stories that are both designed to stand alone but, together, bring Ike back to life and present his place in history as the most important individual in defending the world from fascism, communism, and nuclear weapons.
Editorial Review:
'Hitler is a power drunk egocentric. His personal magnetism had converted large populations in Germany to his insane schemes and to blindly accept his leadership. Unless he is unsuccessful in overpowering the whole world by brute force the final result will be that Germany will have to be dismembered and destroyed.''
The above observation, both laconic and prescient, was made in the journal of Dwight David Eisenhower upon the declaration of War in Europe on September 3rd 1939. The writer in question was a disenchanted Colonel aged nearly forty seconded thousands of miles away in Manilla and on the Staff of General MacArthur; a man he felt increasingly distanced from and increasingly at odds with. A West Pointer, he had missed the Great War - much to his frustration - but he had seen for himself the results in the ruined landscape of France and he was a keen and observant student of post war European politics. Perhaps he felt, in the coming conflict that he believed to be inevitable, it would be the culmination of his military career; not there in the Philippines!. This is a vast and minutely detailed account of Eisenhower as both supreme Warlord and President of the United States at a time of truly massive transformation.It is magisterial in its informed account and sweeping in its scope. It is a panoramic study, intensively researched, of Eisenhower as both a private person and a world figure.
For those readers who may judge their ability to read a book of such scope by the number of pages it contains there is some immediate good news; for, though long, this book is highly accessible. The narrative is fresh and welcoming and very swiftly the reader is invited to be the proverbial fly on the wall at meetings and confrontations and discussions of important personalities at important times on important subjects. This makes the narrative fresh, approachable and immediate. The reader is an invited and honoured guest to profound and solemn moments.Here is President Roosevelt confiding to his niece prior to a meeting of senior military figures at the White House.He is, in particular, vexed and concerned at Winston Churchill's belief that Germany might best be defeated by attacks from Southern Europe and the Mediterranean and the imminent Anglo American assault in North Africa - Operation Torch': ''A new world will emerge from this war.An end to European colonialism. An end to international aggression.At the heart of that world will be the United Nations........ It's going to prevent the outbreak of new wars. That's what we are fighting for. And we are going to have to invade Europe to do it.'' The instances when the reader is invited to be privy to such exchanges in this extraordinary book are simply too numerous to mention! Above all, we are permitted the privilege of viewing the private, personal life of Ike D. Eisenhower; moments such as writing to his beloved wife Mamie to apologise for failing to buy an appropriate gift for her: ''I'm going to run back to Mamie [he confides in his diary] ''the day Berlin falls. I wish we could run away somewhere we'd never be found.''
Zucker's book is a veritable goldmine of perceptive observations; containing as it does encounters with giants of the twentieth century such as Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, Eisenhower's sensitivities towards people he treasured and loved, his antipathy towards such figures as the British General Montgomery, his assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of colleagues and subordinates, and of his bitterest foes. Zucker shines an illuminating light upon all these events and momentous happenings. The reader is made aware of Eisenhower's intense loneliness at critical moments when he and he alone was responsible for making truly historic decisions; his inner monologues, for example weighing up an uncertain and very unpromising weather forecast in making the impossibly difficult and daunting decision to launch 'Operation Overlord' and the Allied Invasion of Europe. To encapsulate all of this in a single volume is a towering ambition and an equally towering success. Through Zucker's eyes we are made witness to all these momentous events. Zucker quotes at this highly critical point in the War Lincoln's second Inaugural speech. Speaking of both the Union an d the Confederacy he said:
''Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not that we be judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purpose.'' To which Eisenhower concludes pensively: ''Lincoln was right. God can't be for and against the same thing. We are about to learn which side of the war He was on.....''
In truth, there are moments in the narrative where the author has clearly strayed into the world of artistic fancy and imagination, Hitler's frenzied discussions with his staff are one such notable example, but Zucker remains true to the spirit of events as they broadly unfolded and the broad historical facts. They serve as leaven to the book as a whole. And so the reader is taken through the difficult days of the remainder of the Second World War in Europe, the desperate Winter Campaign in the Ardennes and the battle of the Bulge, the long hard slog through Germany. On May 7th 1945 in reply to a communication from Supreme Commander of the Allied Army, five star General Eisenhower, General of the Army George C. Marshall messaged the following:
''You have completed your mission with the greatest victory in the history of warfare. You have commanded with outstanding success the most powerful military force that has ever been assembled. You have made history, great history for the good of mankind and you have stood for all we hope for and admire in an Officer in the United States Army.'' Perhaps, upon receipt of this message, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had a flash of memory of the embittered and frustrated Colonel in Manilla upon hearing the news of the outbreak of war. It must have seemed a long time ago. Zucker has it this way: ....''Now, perhaps, he could return to Mamie and retire to enjoy his golden years knowing that Allied victory set the foundation for a post-war peace.'' As posterity knows, Eisenhower was not to have his 'golden years' - at least, not yet. He was to serve two terms of Office as the thirty fourth President of the United States between 1953 and 1961. These were incredibly difficult times for him personally, as the reader continuing this fascinating biography will discover as he presided an extraordinary period of prosperity and change and confidence in American society - 'the Eisenhower Years'.
It does not lie within the scope of a single review to cover the full length and breadth of a biography as comprehensive and as skilfully wrought as 'The Eisenhower Chronicles'. It is sufficient to note the extraordinary dexterity with which the author has brought together all of the very many separate strands of information with great patience and care to present to the reader a compelling and always highly readable high calibre biography. 'The Eisenhower Chronicles' is an outstanding Biography and an impressive achievement.
******
“The Eisenhower Chronicles” by M. B. Zucker receives five stars from The Historical Fiction Company and the “Highly Recommended” award for excellence in historical fiction.
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