History fascinates me. And ever since I purchased a painting of Gen. Douglas MacArthur at a garage sale for $0.10 when I was about 14, I have also been fascinated by MacArthur. This book, then, ought to have inspired me to skip dinner and read on, but I must be frank: it did not.

Yockelson’s writing style, to me, was not lively enough to hold my interest, and I therefore left off reading this book for quite some time. I cannot blame Yockelson entirely, however, because as I have noted before, I respect any author who has invested as much time as and historian must have in his pursuit of accuracy and a just portrayal of his subject. Thus, I give Yockelson props for tackling such a model character as MacArthur, and recording even his failures scars among his great triumphs and fame.

I do, however, blame his publishers for letting it be published.

Perhaps another downfall to this book that affected my pleasure in reading it was that I elected to try the digital version, which I detested. I love my Kindle, but non-fascinating books are even less so when digital. Call me old fashioned (please), but I probably would have enjoyed Yockelson’s MacArthur more in print.

©2011 E.T.