General of the Army: George C. Marshall, Soldier and Statesman

This is the first one-volume portrait of Marshall (1880-1959), FDR's wartime chief of staff, who raised an army of nearly seven million, was the principal architect of Allied victory, and did much to shape the postwar world as secretary of state and secretary of defense under Truman. Cray's stirring narrative traces Marshall's apparently selfless career under 10 presidents, and shows that during the 1940s he was the most powerful figure in government after the president. An austere and forbidding man, he had a tender side as well,, which Cray, history professor at the University of Southern California, brings into focus. In this well-balanced biography Marshall emerges as a person of integrity, nobility and greatness, both of vision and of character. Photos. (Apr.)