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| |  | History | Home » » » 15 Stars: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Marshall: Three Generals Who Saved the American Century | | | | | | | Description: | | 15 Stars presents the intertwined lives of three five-star generals—George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Douglas MacArthur—as America’s greatest heroes against the background of six unforgettable decades, from two World Wars to the Cold War, revealing the personalities behind the public images and showing how much of a difference three men can make not only to a nation, but the world. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Stanley Weintraub | | Hardcover:
| 560 pages | | Publisher:
| Free Press | | Publication Date:
| June 12, 2007 | | Package Length:
| 9.0 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.2 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.7 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.25 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 19 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
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0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 readable, but only because it could have been a true behind the scenes hollywood memoirAug 06, 2009
This is not a difficult book to read, partly because it comes off as a Hollywood type expose of behind the scenes gossip about MacArthur and Eisenhower. In the beginning, MacArthur takes the worst of it, but Eisenhower is bashed relentlessly towards the end, with a full measure of Truman envy and bitterness thrown in for extra seasoning. The only person treated fairly is Marshall.
The postwar section of the book is particularly awful, focusing on selective areas(Korea, Marshall plan) while totally ignoring others (theft of the Atomic secrets, Venona decrypts, Alger Hiss and Rosenberg trials).
One more note. I was curious to discover that the American army was not the first motorized army, did not have soldiers well versed in automobile maintenance due to driving cars at home produced by Henry Ford, and that American society was not an automobile society at all until the evil Eisenhower allowed greedy corporate interests to put in a national highway system.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 David's ReviewMay 14, 2009
Fascinating account of the interaction of three of the four most famous U.S. general officers in the 20th century (and the fourth, Blackjack Pershing, of WWI fame, knew the other three very well and had a behind-the-scenes role with each of them in WWII, including direct communications with FDR -- which is also covered in this masterly work). These three giants all had unique personalities and operating styles; they collaborated when necessary, sometimes begrudgingly, and clashed on many occasions. Of the three, the ultimate arbiter was George Marshall -- who groomed Ike, put him in place as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe and then kept him on a short leash. Marshall also hand-massaged the supremely egotistical Douglas MacArthur to keep him in line throughout the war in the Pacific despite MacArthur's frequent paranoia about Washington. And of course, Ike and MacArthur (Ike once was MacArthur's aide) grew to despise each other. All of these not-so-well-known nuances are brilliantly addressed by the author. A great read!
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Unremarkably good, and badly titled, at thatJan 25, 2009
As a reader of World War II histories, I was on the whole unimpressed with this volume. The author writes clearly and knowledgeably about the subjects, but there is no shortage of clear and knowledgeable works on World War II. The book touts itself as a study of the relationship between "three generals who saved the American Century," but it rapidly becomes clear that it offers nothing of the sort. Fifteen Stars rapidly descends into a hagiography of George Marshall, simultaneously serving as an anticato of Douglas MacArthur. After reading it, one is left to wonder why Weintraub even bothered to include MacArthur in the title, as he puts no effort at all into showing why one might consider him as having "saved the American Century."
It is not a bad book, one must be clear of that. It does a creditable job of covering both the Pacific War and the European/North African theater, something that is generally lacking in single-volume works. But for all that it is unremarkable -- it fails to live up to its titular promise, and one struggles to find something at which it excels. I suppose it is worth reading, but is far more useful to someone who already knows a bit about the three men involved. At most, I can offer only a tepid reccommendation.
0 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Ax to grind?Sep 23, 2008
I learned two things from reading this book: the British thought the Americans were stupid and the author thought MacArthur was stupid. Other than that I got very little out of it.
1 of 4 found the following review helpful:
History Unfair and UnbalancedAug 28, 2008
Weintraub's 15 Stars is billed as a study of how three 5 star generals of World War II fame "saved the American Century." However, as I forced myself to plod through over 500 pages it became clear to me that the author's goal was the adulation of his hero George C. Marshall at the expense of Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
This "historian" through blatant criticism, gossip and constant innuendo demonstrates that he cannot bring himself to say anything positive about either "Mac" or "Ike". In my opinion, Weintraub feels his high esteem for Marshall, no doubt a great American of the 20th Century, will be enhanced by demeaning the accomplishments of two other giants of the American Century.
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