Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime & FREE Returns

FREE delivery Wednesday, June 1 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon

Or fastest delivery Tuesday, May 31. Order within 12 mins

Only 14 left in stock (more on the way).

As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

[{"displayPrice":"$14.99","priceAmount":14.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"14","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"sZ7Vz2F4Ov50eeVZmbkX6nA0LrQdYVAclYUxmGso10Z7G3TUI4cRAWL4WtI%2FuME1TCc1l3vTDinJrJ2QZVmuPIDRYhRFWQREtJYG%2FaP1nAS9e%2BXENKu%2FTiQJBIyDQadJzcxsDjeN75tpdwZgeH0SyA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW"},{"displayPrice":"$7.91","priceAmount":7.91,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"91","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"sZ7Vz2F4Ov50eeVZmbkX6nA0LrQdYVAcXae%2FxvatHqoAIHshF2DCqCWOdzAn90LVxa9Tnr8MNW9s8h23pxPoy09ceMW8n2pgidQHvllvoP8SByuzXoaCFpP9112h7pWsVNch6m6vH2JHHD5YQM21igDVbzLXASfB%2BLxGacnU9oGdMCOL7ydXXQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]

$$14.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Return policy: Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Thursday, June 2 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon. Order within 21 hrs 12 mins

Select delivery location

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by 2nd Life Aloha

Fulfilled by Amazon

Share <Embed>

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$16.38
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: lily11

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

Follow the Author

David McCullough

Truman Audio CD – CD, May 5, 2015

by David McCullough (Author, Reader)

2,152 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$17.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover, Illustrated

"Please retry"

$17.99

$10.55

$2.01

Paperback

"Please retry"

$13.99

$7.71

$1.30

Audio CD

"Please retry"

$55.60

$44.25

—

Audio CD, Abridged, Audiobook, CD

$14.99

$10.21

$2.86

Enhance your purchase

The Pulitzer Prize–winning biography of Harry S. Truman, whose presidency included momentous events from the atomic bombing of Japan to the outbreak of the Cold War and the Korean War, told by America’s beloved and distinguished historian.

The life of Harry S. Truman is one of the greatest of American stories, filled with vivid characters—Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bess Wallace Truman, George Marshall, Joe McCarthy, and Dean Acheson—and dramatic events. In this riveting biography, acclaimed historian David McCullough not only captures the man—a more complex, informed, and determined man than ever before imagined—but also the turbulent times in which he rose, boldly, to meet unprecedented challenges. The last president to serve as a living link between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, Truman’s story spans the raw world of the Missouri frontier, World War I, the powerful Pendergast machine of Kansas City, the legendary Whistle-Stop Campaign of 1948, and the decisions to drop the atomic bomb, confront Stalin at Potsdam, send troops to Korea, and fire General MacArthur. Drawing on newly discovered archival material and extensive interviews with Truman’s own family, friends, and Washington colleagues, McCullough tells the deeply moving story of the seemingly ordinary “man from Missouri” who was perhaps the most courageous president in our history.

Language

English
Publisher

Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication date

May 5, 2015
Dimensions

5 x 0.6 x 5.88 inches
ISBN-10

1442387807
ISBN-13

978-1442387805
See all details

Frequently bought together

+
+

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

by David McCullough Audio CD
$14.99 Get it as soon as Wednesday, Jun 1 FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 14 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
by David McCullough Audio CD
$39.95 Get it as soon as Wednesday, Jun 1 FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
Only 14 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
by David McCullough Audio CD
$14.21 Get it as soon as Wednesday, Jun 1 FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

David McCullough
3,148
Paperback
456 offers from $1.50
David McCullough
1,923
Paperback
235 offers from $1.50
David McCullough
7,109
Paperback
133 offers from $2.40
David McCullough
1,962
Paperback
235 offers from $1.68
David McCullough
7,630
Paperback
230 offers from $1.35
David McCullough
4,825
Paperback
394 offers from $1.55

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David McCullough has twice received the Pulitzer Prize, for Truman and John Adams, and twice received the National Book Award, for The Path Between the Seas and Mornings on Horseback. His other acclaimed books include The Johnstown Flood, TheGreat Bridge, Brave Companions, 1776, The Greater Journey, The American Spirit, The Wright Brothers, and The Pioneers. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. Visit DavidMcCullough.com.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster Audio; Abridged edition (May 5, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1442387807
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1442387805
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.6 x 5.88 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #239,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #451 in Books on CD
- #849 in US Presidents
- #4,190 in U.S. State & Local History

Customer Reviews:
2,152 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

David McCullough

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

David McCullough has twice received the Pulitzer Prize, for Truman and John Adams, and twice received the National Book Award, for The Path Between the Seas and Mornings on Horseback; His other widely praised books are 1776, Brave Companions, The Great Bridge, and The Johnstown Flood. He has been honored with the National Book Foundation Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award, the National Humanities Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Customer reviews

5 star		83%
4 star		12%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Priscilla Virelli

Fabulous!

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2016

Verified Purchase

I have read many of David McCullough's books, only two more to go, but this one was the absolute best. He brought Truman to life for me. He made that whole era, WW! into the Korean War come alive. Every character, every scene, was like I knew exactly what he was talking about. His love of Bess and then his daughter...his protection of the privacy of his family....his loyalty...this was the best read for me and, believe me, I loved The Great Bridge and the story of the Panama Canal...Path Between the Seas....but Truman was so very special. If you have a love of history you will enjoy this book from beginning to end and don't let the length of it discourage you from starting it because it just flies by. When I finished it I felt that I had laid to rest my very best friend. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

119 people found this helpful

Helpful

DantheMan

"There was greatness in the man"

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2019

Verified Purchase

I picked up Truman, primarily because I wanted to understand a little more about the post WW-II events and decisions that so marked the latter half of the 20th century. What I got was something much more. An opportunity to live alongside one of the most remarkable and unlikely lives in American History.

Harry Truman was the second to last US President to have been born in the 1800s. His grandparents lived during the era of the Missouri frontier and the Civil War. “The arc of his life spanned more change in the world than in any prior period in history…he had to assume command of the most powerful industrial nation on earth at the very moment when that power, in combination with the stunning advances in science and technology, had become an unparalleled force in the world.” There is a romance to the life, a seemingly fictional element in the biography. Truman did not go to college, nor did he get involved in politics until midlife. He worked a decade as a farmer until his early 30s, went to war in Europe and returned only to get married and start a men’s clothing warehouse. In many ways he was a normal middle American man, who had his share of ups and downs and financial debts.

Truman was not bred for the Presidency, nor trained for the global decisions he would have to make like an FDR or a Churchill. His rise to power could not have been more unforeseen; but with the Pendergast (a powerful Missouri political boss) backing he proved to be very successful in state government. From there, there was no looking back.

From state government to US Senator, from Senator to Roosevelt’s Vice President, from Vice President to President, from President to the creation of United Nations and Victory in Europe and Potsdam and the dropping of the atomic bomb. These first 4 months were riveting to read. And from that point the story does not cease to amaze: from a very low approval rating as President to an exhausting campaign and a most improbable victory over Dewey. Truman’s story is an unfolding of one unlikely event followed by another unlikely, momentous event. Truman’s second term included the founding of the state of Israel, the unpopular start of the Korean War, and the eventual firing of Douglas MacArthur.

It was not just the decisions and the policies implemented that really struck me as a reader. To be sure I did learn a lot more about the post-WWII world; but I found myself becoming very much attached to the key figure in the story. Truman is an admirable protagonist with a noble heart. He is just, moral, upright, wary of the temptations that come with power. He makes mistakes. His persona exudes vitality and industrial energy that is contagious to everyone who works with him. Throughout his life he possessed a deep desire to “do the right thing” no matter what. If modern generations look back on the atomic bomb or the “dangerous foreign intervention precedent” of Korea with disdain—they should read this book. Time and time again Truman is faced with two deeply flawed options in real time: drop a bomb or allow a world war to continue; intervene in Korea or watch on from a distance; use extreme governmental measures or let the crippling strike go on during wartime. An imperfect decision had to be made and rarely was there a third option.

At his farewell address in 1953 Truman said:

“When Franklin Roosevelt died, I felt there must be a million men better qualified than I, to take up the Presidential task. But the work was mine to do, and I had to do it. And I have tried to give it everything that was in me... Good night and God bless you all.”

To sum it up, this was a very enjoyable ride. I found myself at times staying up until the early morning binging, because I was so engrossed in the narrative. I was sad to finish, just like I am sad when I finish any good biography. You walk so far with the characters it is almost an emotional experience when they pass on and a new era arises.

As for the writing, David McCullough in one of the best historians alive and his prose is perfect as always. A remarkable story teller to match a remarkable life.

26 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mac McCormick III

A Worthwhile Read

Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2017

Verified Purchase

David McCullough's Truman is a long book but well worth the read. It covers Truman's life from his ancestors on the frontier to his death and everything in between. McCullough ties the history of Truman's ancestors, childhood, family life, farm experience, business attempts, World War I military service, political life to explain what Truman did and why as President. It also delves into Truman's political campaigns on all levels, which I found truly fascinating. This really is an informative book that transformed my understanding of Harry Truman and the Truman presidency. McCullough's writing style is vivid and engaging, it really is hard to put down once you get started.

I couldn't help drawing parallels between the present and the past while reading this book - particularly with the 2016 Presidential campaign and how Clinton and Trump campaigned compared to how Truman campaign and our current problems in Korea. I couldn't help contrasting the personalities of Truman and Trump, either.

I highly recommend Truman; it's a fascinating, informative, well written biography of a President who was in office during a highly important, trans-formative period of United States History.

32 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ron Priebe

A wonderfully written book about one of our best Presidents. Folks, On this date in Dec 26 1972 early in the morning in Kansas City, MO, one of my favorites, President Harry Truman passed away. I am sharing because I am reading a book on his life, and actually this evening I just reach a point in the book about his passing.

When I retired in 2016, I decided to dedicate my spare time towards reading the president's biographies, starting in order with George Washington. So recently, I reached the 33rd President, Truman's life. An excellent book titled Truman, written by David McCullough. This has been a labor of love and an opportunity to soak in the history details that occurred during their lives.

Harry Truman was a dedicated son, WWI soldier and officer, loving husband, father and grandfather, senator, a capable Vice President and fine president.

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

Folks, On this date in Dec 26 1972 early in the morning in Kansas City, MO, one of my favorites, President Harry Truman passed away. I am sharing because I am reading a book on his life, and actually this evening I just reach a point in the book about his passing.

When I retired in 2016, I decided to dedicate my spare time towards reading the president's biographies, starting in order with George Washington. So recently, I reached the 33rd President, Truman's life. An excellent book titled Truman, written by David McCullough. This has been a labor of love and an opportunity to soak in the history details that occurred during their lives. This book I does an exceptional job detailing President Truman's life and contributions.

Harry Truman was a dedicated son, WWI soldier and officer, loving husband, father and grandfather, senator, a capable Vice President and fine president.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Curmudgea

Truman reads like a novel

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2015

Verified Purchase

Probably everything's been said about this book that I want to say, but I have to say that I wonder how I went all these years without realizing what an engaging historian and writer Mr. McCullough is. Truman reads like a novel. As a youngster, I used to look at pictures of Truman, hear him speak, and wonder how such a seemingly drab little man could be our president. So if my husband hadn't already read and recommended the book, I probably wouldn't have even started it. But after racing through this biography -- by no means a hagiography -- I long for a candidate like Truman in the 2016 election. Moreover, it was a kind of nostalgia trip for me, since I was brought up by a father whose basic values paralleled Truman's, and many of his now old-fashioned speech mannerisms reminded me of the way people spoke when I was growing up. I'll certainly be moving on to the author's other books even if I don't think the topic would appeal to me.

29 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

BJW

Excellent biography of President Truman

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2021

Verified Purchase

I'm not in the habit of reading biographies especially not political ones but was drawn to this one by it's reviews and the time period concerned.

For me, it was a vivid portrayal of Harry Truman's life as a boy, to a man, to be president of the most powerful nation on our planet.

His character, integrity and honesty keep recurring throughout the narrative which was conveyed expertly by the author David McCullough and kept me enthralled until the end.

Can the average citizen comprehend what is takes to become president of the USA?

Read this biography and you will be a part of his life story and feel the pressure of office thrust upon HT after the death of Franklin D Roosevelt, Atomic Bombs on Japan, Korean War, the expectations and disappointments of friends and fellow politicians in the bear pit of congress.

Accusations of corruption and cronyism due to his association with the 'Boss' Tom Pendergast and this link to power and the White House.

After all of this he missed being home, being a father and husband.

2 people found this helpful

Jim Bowen

A detailed, thorough read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2022

Verified Purchase

This is an extremely thorough biography of Harry S Truman. It can be a heavy read in places, but is about as detailed/researched a 1 book biography of Truman as you'll ever need.

These days, Truman is almost beatified by both sides of the political isle, with Democrats and Republicans finding merit in different views he had. This book presents both sides in a balanced way. It was a little strange though. I had a high regard for Truman before reading the book. This book brought him down to Earth some. It's not done in a bad way, but you'll definitely get a better/more balanced view of the man, by the end of the book.

The biggest issue is that it's a little long maybe? You've really got to want to read it if you're going to want to finish it.

The other issue is that Truman is a... man of his age? He believed in equality, but used words which were inappropriate, and this goes unchallenged. This made me wince on occasion.

Tariki

Superb biography of a good man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

Refreshing in our own day when we look in vain for genuine integrity in any so called "leader" to read of Harry Truman. A true "man of the people" , born to a life on the farm, who yet became President of the United States. He served in momentous times.

The book is never a hagiography of Truman's life, but obviously Mr McCullough has great respect, even love, of his subject. The 1948 Presidential Campaign was an unexpected highlight. But we also have Truman's service in WWI, the decision to use the Atom Bomb and the Korean War. And much else, all making, because of Truman's sheer integrity, an inspirational read. A man who never lost his roots, yet still continued to grow as a human being in very demanding times.

I have never enjoyed a biography more than this one. No stars deducted even though something seems to have gone wrong with the download of the illustrations.

Thank you.

4 people found this helpful

David Beeson

A great read providing invaluable insight into a remarkable man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

I knew far too little of Truman before listening to and reading David McCullough’s fine biography of him (on Audible and Kindle, respectively). All I could say about him was that Truman was a president to admire, one who’d won himself an enviable reputation. He was also a man of honesty and principle, prepared to take difficult decisions and accept responsibility for them.

This biography confirms the truth of those beliefs. But it does far more than that. It reveals Truman not just in his successes but in his failures, and there were many of them. Most notably, he spent many years as a farmer, with mixed results, and later attempted to set up a haberdashery shop, where he went broke. Perhaps more worrying still, he worked closely for many years with political bosses in his native Missouri, some of whom were found to be deeply corrupt.

Ironically, it was the dubious associations that led to his successes. Though he worked with some questionable individuals, it’s clear that he never engaged in any murky activities of his own. He maintained personal integrity in poisonous circumstances. But the Missouri bosses were his springboard into politics.

He was also a leader of men. Despite his poor eyesight and his lack of any previous military experience, he became an artillery captain during the First World War, distinguishing himself both by his personal courage and by his ability to forge men into a highly-efficient unit. He pulled off that achievement with a disparate group of men who were not soldiers but civilians in uniform. As well as a leader he was, truly, a fighter.

That was the quality that most marked his political career. He showed it most clearly at two key times: when he stood for re-election to the Senate in 1940 and when he ran for President in his own right in 1948 (he was elected Vice President in 1944 with Roosevelt, and inherited the presidency when the latter died).

On both those occasions he showed a tireless ability to campaign even when all around him were telling him he had no chance of winning. He covered huge distances speaking to crowds and individuals at every opportunity. Above all, he established a personal bond with thousands, who passed the message on to many times that number of others.

Against the odds, he won both those elections, astounding friend and adversary alike.

I found another quality of his just as striking: his ability to build consensus. Even after he had taken a decision, for instance to build a Hydrogen bomb, he would allow his subordinates to debate the issue, leading many of the discussions himself. Eventually, they would come around to the view that he had already adopted, at which point he put it into application knowing that his team was behind him.

Nor did he ever duck responsibility for the choices he made. We might not agree with his decision to build a Hydrogen bomb, or to use the Atom bomb against Japan, or to involve the US in the Korean War. It’s hard, however, not to admire the resolution with which he took those decisions, knowing that they were his responsibility and his alone, and accepting that criticism for the consequences had to be directed at him.

Told with a great deal of humour and in the clear and gripping language which always marks David McCullough’s work, this biography brings out all these aspects of the man. That provides us with a work that is a pleasure to read (or listen to) full of vital insights into a remarkable personality.

3 people found this helpful

Mr. PJR

Fascinating and enjoyable biography of a great man

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 7, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is an utterly fascinating and immensely enjoyable read. I cannot recommend it highly enough! It is really engrossing and beautifully written. You will feel that you begin to know the real Harry Truman and the very tumultuous times in which he served his country. If I have one small criticism, it is that I only wish the author spent longer writing about Truman's retirement from office. Although there is a great deal of information in the book about the founding and construction of the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, some of the vital information from Truman's own writings is absent. We don't really hear anything at all about his strong criticism of the Eisenhower administration. It is a little bit as though once he left Washington he left the cares of the wider political world behind him. This is surely not the case and I would have liked to have read about Truman's opinions and concerns of what came after his time as President. Having said this, I found the book exceptionally researched and constructed. David McCullough is worthy of the highest praise!

3 people found this helpful

See all reviews

Buy new: $14.99$14.99 FREE delivery: Wednesday, June 1 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used: $7.91

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

Truman Audio CD – CD, May 5, 2015

Enhance your purchase

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

About the author

David McCullough

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$14.99

FREE delivery: Wednesday, June 1 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Ships from: Amazon.com

Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used:

$7.91