Mr. Truman's War:: The Final Victories of World War II and the Birth of the Postwar World

With the haberdasher turned head of state as his focus, Moskin (The U.S. Marine Corps Story) offers a theme-driven, journalistic account of the period between FDR's death and Japan's unconditional surrender--five months in 1945 when ""the world changed forever."" Moskin regards WWII, rather than the Civil War, as the defining event in U.S. history, and perceives the transition from war to peace as the decisive stage in that event. The destruction of the Axis, the beginnings of the Cold War and the nuclear age, the end of colonialism--all occurred at that time, with Truman, according to the author, personally responsible for the crucial decisions that shaped final victory and structured the postwar world. Moskin's insistence on the critical nature of these five months, and on the centrality of Truman's role, seems overstated. Many historians contend that the outlines of the postwar system were well established by 1945. Truman himself entertained few illusions of being a world-historical figure and sought consensus whenever possible on major issues, such as the sharing of nuclear information. Moskin's dependence, judging from his notes, on published sources and memoirs apparently often leads him to take ex post facto reconstructions at face value, and to portray such events as the Potsdam Conference and the decision to drop the bomb as simpler than they were. Even so, he provides entertaining history here, as well as an impressive, detailed introduction to a complex period. Photographs. Author tour. (July)