''American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880–1964'' is a 1978 biography of
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...
by American historian
William Manchester.
Manchester paints a sympathetic but balanced portrait of MacArthur, praising the general for what he calls his military genius, administrative skill, and personal bravery, while criticizing his
vanity,
paranoia, and tendency toward insubordination. As the title suggests, Manchester's central thesis is that MacArthur was an analogue of
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
, a proposition he supports by comparing their purported great intellect, brilliant strategic generalship, political ambition, magnanimity as conquerors, and shared tragic flaw of
hubris.
It was made into a series in 1983 hosted by
John Huston.
References
External links
WW2DB: Book review on American Caesar
by Gaddis Smith
*
''Commentary Magazine'' review
*
1978 non-fiction books
American biographies
Douglas MacArthur
Little, Brown and Company books
Japan in non-Japanese culture
Depictions of Julius Caesar in literature
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