"This major book is a critical revisionist portrait of Truman's personal role in shaping U.S. foreign policy toward the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. . . . The importance of the scholarship, the author's careful voice of reasonable criticism, the lucid writing style--all should give the book a popular readership that reaches beyond the university and foreign policy publics."--J. Garry Clifford, University of Connecticut"At a moment in the early 2lst century when the choices in a new crisis seem simply black and white, this is precisely the kind of historical perspective we should have. Professor Offner has reopened a long overdue debate on Harry Truman--both on the man and his role in the origins of the Cold War. . . . [I]t certainly demands to be read and widely discussed."--Walter LaFeber, Cornell University and author of America, Russia and the Cold War