A general history of the critical first year of the Korean War, this study deals primarily with relations between General Douglas MacArthur and President Harry S. Truman from June 1950 to April 1951, a period that defined the war's direction until General Mark Clark, the final U.N. Commander, signed the Armistice two years later. Although the ever-changing military situation is outlined, the main focus is on policymaking and the developing friction between Truman and MacArthur. Wainstock contradicts the common view that MacArthur and Truman were constantly at odds on the basic aims of the war. In the matter of carrying the fight to Communist China, MacArthur and the Joint Chiefs differed only on timing, not on the need for such action.

The end of the Cold War has provided historians with a better opportunity to study the forces that shaped the thinking of America's leaders at the time of the Korean War. The sheer quantity of material now available, while daunting, is filled with colorful and outstanding personalities, dramatic action, and momentous actions that have had an impact on world events even to the present day. Wainstock ultimately concludes that Washington placed too much emphasis on anti-Communist ideology, rather than long-term national interest, in the decision first to intervene in the war and later to cross the crucial 38th Parallel. He also emphasizes the important contributions of General Matthew B. Ridgway in stopping the Chinese offensive and in influencing Washington's decision not to carry the war to Communist China.

This book is a balanced account of the political, diplomatic, and military currents that influenced Japan's attempts to surrender and the United States's decision to drop the atomic bombs. Based on extensive research in both the United States and Japan, this book allows the reader to follow the parallel decision-making in Tokyo and Washington that contributed to lost opportunities that might have allowed a less brutal conclusion to the war. Topics discussed and analyzed include Japan's desperate military situation; its decision to look to the Soviet Union to mediate the conflict; the Manhattan Project; the debates within Truman's Administration and the armed forces as to whether to modify unconditional surrender terms to include retention of Emperor Hirohito and whether to plan for the invasion of Japan's home islands or to rely instead on blockade and bombing to force the surrender.

While this biography of Malcolm X touches upon his early life and young adulthood, it focuses most prominently on the revolutionary's final years, which were largely dominated by his departure from the Nation of Islam and his conflict with Elijah Muhammad. It begins with Malcolm's seven-year imprisonment at the age of 21, when he began his noted quest for self-education and first became familiar with the teachings of the Nation of Islam, and continues through his official adoption of the religion of the Nation of Islam; his ministry at Elijah Muhammad's Temple Number Seven and other significant contributions to the Nation's growth; his eventual disillusionment and rejection of the Nation's teachings; and his pilgrimage to Mecca and other international travels.There is a particular focus on the 11-month period from March 8, 1964, when Malcolm officially left the Nation of Islam, to February 21, 1965, when he was assassinated while delivering a speech at Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom. Throughout, the author addresses a number of important points, assumptions and questions, including the role of fellow prisoner John Elton Bembry in Malcolm's prison conversion; whether Malcolm decided to leave the Nation of Islam before he was suspended by Elijah Muhammad; whether he was seeking martyrdom; and the extent of the role that government agencies played in Malcolm X's death.