Following A Thousand Ships, which was short-listed for Britain's Women's Prize for Fiction and a best seller in the United States, Haynes's Pandora's Jar belongs to a growing number of titles that put the female characters of Greek mythology front and center as less passive or secondary than they've been regarded (25,000-copy hardcover and 30,000-copy paperback first printing)

The quintessential Middle American rose to the occasion in wrestling with issues of vast international import, according to this shrewd presidential history. New Yorker contributor Frank (Ike and Dick) recaps Harry Truman's eventful seven years in office, during which he approved the atomic bombing of Japan, weathered the hottest stretch of the Cold War, and launched a key civil rights initiative by desegregating the armed forces. Frank's Truman is sensible, determined, and decisive, but impulsive (he sent a letter threatening to rearrange the nose of a music critic who panned daughter Margaret's opera recital); able to hold his own with Churchill and Stalin, but too deferential to his advisers and the military brass. (Truman's greatest mistake, Frank argues, was allowing Gen. Douglas MacArthur leeway to invade North Korea, which brought China into that war.) Frank astutely analyzes the geopolitics Truman confronted while conveying his character in elegant, evocative prose: "He walked with a rapid, soldierly gait, eyes straight ahead, often smiling, managing to exude confidence despite what a top aide called a 'wholesome sense of inadequacy.' " The result is a discerning portrait of a president who achieved a lot just by muddling through. Photos. Agent: Tina Bennett, Bennett Literary. (Mar.)

Thrust into the presidency by FDR's unexpected death, Harry Truman came into office "handicapped," as he acknowledged, "by lack of knowledge of both foreign and domestic affairs." In this illuminating chronicle, Frank shows readers how this remarkable midwestern haberdasher surmounted his handicap, leaving his mark on the nation and the world. Readers see how a newly elevated Truman learned to master the unprecedented geopolitical day dawning with a fiery mushroom cloud rising above Alamogordo. Frank exposes Truman's angst in making what the president called "the most terrible decision a man ever had to make": authorizing the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan. After victory over Japan, Truman confronted the unexpected challenge of an aggressively expansionist Soviet Union. Frank impressively weaves together the narrative of Truman's maturation as international statesman with the equally engrossing story of his growth as American politician, shedding his own prejudices as he desegregates the military and presses for federal anti-lynching laws. Frank not only illuminates the global and domestic difficulties surrounding Truman, but also probes the complex character of the man himself--a give-'em-hell combativeness, which carried Truman to unexpected triumph over Dewey in 1948, set against a vulnerability evinced in his grief at the passing of his aged mother. A compelling historical inquiry.

Frank, a journalist and a former editor of The New Yorker and The Washington Post, produces a captivating narrative of Harry Truman's years in the White House. Making extensive use of primary and secondary sources, archival collections, and oral histories, Frank paints a vivid portrait of the down-to-earth, plain-spoken midwesterner who guided the United States during what was arguably the most formative time in the nation's history. As the US assumed the burden of world leadership during the emerging Cold War, Truman's policies and decisions molded the international environment for the rest of the century. In addition to highlighting the major foreign policy events of his presidency, this account also demonstrates the influence that Truman's advisors and cabinet officials had on shaping his world view. Truman emerges as a straightforward, decisive, honest man with a strong sense of duty and obligation. Although he relied heavily on his cabinet and close advisors for guidance, he was at times prone to making decisions in haste without always considering the full consequences of his actions, as when he deployed American troops to Korea in the summer of 1950. Shining light on all aspects of Truman's character and decisions, Frank's volume provides a nuanced account of this important American leader. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Undergraduates through faculty and general readers. --Christos G. Frentzos, Austin Peay State University

An absorbing reexamination of Harry Truman's two-term presidency and the critical years during which he held office. Much has been written about the 33rd president, whose esteem has increased over the several decades since he left office. His colorful story has become somewhat legendary: the self-educated man from rural Missouri who was thrust into a demanding leadership role following Franklin Roosevelt's untimely death. Though largely unprepared, Truman rose to the many challenges that confronted him. Among dozens of others, these included the decision to drop the first atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II, the founding of the U.N. and creation of the NATO alliance, and the fateful decision to intervene in the conflict in Korea. Frank, a former senior editor at the New Yorker and author of Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage, is also an acclaimed novelist, and his storytelling skills add significantly to this well-documented account. While not quite a revisionist history--the author's assessment remains mostly consistent with prior biographies, most notably David McCullough's 1992 Pulitzer-winning Truman--the book provides further depth and nuance to the character dynamics of Truman and his administration, including sharp portraits of James F. Byrnes, George C. Marshall, Dean Acheson, and James Vincent Forrestal, "who was destined to become one of Truman's unhappiest appointments." Ultimately, Frank delivers a balanced yet appreciative portrait of a president who, despite his limitations and flaws, proved largely capable of meeting the extraordinary demands of his time. "If he could never replace the masterful Franklin Roosevelt," writes the author, "he became someone, or something, else: a man, burdened by a persistent absence of foresight, whose policies nonetheless brought stability to an unsteady world….He understood, and cherished, the task he'd been handed, and if he did not always seem big enough for the job, no one could question the size of the decisions he made while he held it." A well-researched, engagingly human portrait of this complex mid-20th-century political leader. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.