There are few figures in American history who generated as much controversy as Douglas MacArthur. From the first, he was a man about whom few were neutral, with a military career that brought him great acclaim and a personality that led many to despise him. This polarization is what makes D. Clayton James’s achievement all the more remarkable. In this book, the first volume of a three-volume biography about the man, James succeeds in avoiding the extremes of hagiography or demonization, instead presenting a balanced assessment of the first six decades of MacArthur’s long and historic life.

James begins by examining Douglas MacArthur’s considerable military heritage. The son of Arthur MacArthur, a Civil War hero who went on to become military governor of the Philippines, Douglas grew up an “Army brat”, accompanying his father as he moved from posting to posting. Excelling at West Point, where he graduated at the top of his class, he served a few years as an engineer before transferring to the infantry. MacArthur rose quickly through a combination of his own abilities and well-positioned friends, reaching the rank of brigadier general by the end of the First World War. After the war, he served in a number of prominent commands, including a period as superintendent of West Point (where he modernized much of the curriculum) before becoming the Army Chief of Staff in 1930. Yet for all of his success his career was colored by dramatic self-promotion, an almost paranoid suspicion of perceived rivals, and political controversy, and many were happy to see him leave as Chief of Staff for service abroad as military adviser in the Philippines. There, in spite of tight budgets and other problems, he endeavored to improve the colony’s defenses against invasion, one he is on the verge of facing when James ends the book.

Though published over forty years ago, James’s book remains the starting point for anyone seeking to learn about MacArthur’s career before the Second World War. This is due in equal parts to the author’s judiciousness, the extensiveness of his research, and the thoroughness with which he examines his subject. James does not hesitate to judge MacArthur, yet his judgments about such controversies as the attack on the Bonus Marchers are fair and well supported by the evidence. Overall, this book is an indispensable study of MacArthur’s early years and a good start to the definitive study of a accomplished and divisive figure. ( )