Paradis

1739 — <p><em><strong>SCARCE SIGNED! FIRST EDITION</strong></em> first printing. Full number line present. Book is brand new and unread. Personally hand signed by the author directly to the half title page. NOT inscribed to anyone. NOT a tip in. NOT a bookplate. Dust jacket hand covered in protective archival grade Mylar for many worry free years of reading/collecting!</p><p>A thrilling new biography of Dwight Eisenhower set in the months leading up to D-Day when he grew from a well-liked general into one of the singular figures of American history.</p><p>"This is hands-down the most deeply researched sensitive intimate and nuanced portrait of Eisenhower." —DAVID KENNEDY recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for History "A masterly portrait." —General WESLEY CLARK "Gorgeously written. The only must-read book to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day." —ALEX KERSHAW New York Times bestselling author STARRED reviews from Publishers Weekly Kirkus and Library Journal</p><p>On June 6 1944 General Dwight Eisenhower addressed the thousands of American troops preparing to invade Normandy exhorting them to embrace the "Great Crusade" they faced. Then in a fleeting moment alone he drafted a resignation letter in case the invasion failed.</p><p>In The Light of Battle Michel Paradis acclaimed author of Last Mission to Tokyo paints a vivid portrait of Dwight Eisenhower as he learns to navigate the crosscurrents of diplomacy politics strategy family and fame with the fate of the free world hanging in the balance. In a world of giants—Churchill Roosevelt De Gaulle Marshall MacArthur—it was a barefoot boy from Abilene Kansas who would master the art of power and become a modern-day George Washington.</p><p>Drawing upon meticulous research and a voluminous body of newly discovered records letters diaries and firsthand accounts from three continents Paradis brings Eisenhower to life as a complicated man who craved simplicity a genial cipher whose smile was a lethal political weapon.</p><p>With a page-turning pace and an eye for the overlooked Paradis interweaves the grand arc of history with more human concerns bringing readers into the private moments that led to Eisenhower's most pivotal decisions. By deftly integrating the personal and the political he reveals how Eisenhower's rise both reflected and was integral to America's rise as a global superpower.</p><p>An unflinching look at how character is forged and leadership is learned The Light of Battle breathes new life into the man who made "the leader of the free world" the mantle of the American presidency.</p> Mariner Books hardcover