At Ease: Stories I Tell To Friends -- Take 2

I liked At Ease.  I expected it to be historically interesting and broad (especially given the number of pages), but I didn't expect it to be funny.

It's a collection of stories, not contiguous -- especially in the earlier parts of his life -- but told chronologically.  Eisenhower is an interesting fellow.  He is undoubtedly accomplished; if a person were to think of all the positions he held independent of one another, it's hard to believe they all fit into one lifetime.  But to read these stories, the accomplishments seem to flow quite logically from one to the next.  Of course he was selected to be Supreme Allied Commander, he had done so well at his prior tasks, beginning in World War I, especially with decommissioning, followed by work around the world including the Philippines.  Who better to be Supreme Allied Commander?  And then who better to be Chief of Staff?  Tasked with putting together the NATO alliances? And of course why not President of Columbia University, somewhere in the middle of all that too?

The book stops before he becomes President of the United States, and he's also careful to say a couple of times that there is a separate military history written about World War II, and for the military details the reader should refer to that.

Overall, this one was a winner.  And, having completed it, I have now also ticked the January book off my 2021 Reading Challenge.  A little late, eh?  I did say that I could read them out of order, but by any measure, I am behind schedule.  Even though this was the book I got stuck on, it was not this book's fault at all.  When I got to reading it, it went quickly.