When Generals Decide // MacArthur and Wainwright

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Charleston Library Society

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CLS When Generals Decide

April 21 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

$10.00 – $41.00

From the shores of the Philippines at the start of World War II came two men who knew only one thing – leave no man behind, regardless of the cost. Douglas MacArthur and Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright star in The Fate of the Generals, author and historian Jonathan Horn’s latest book of bravery and unwavering strength that is destined to become a classic of World War II history. Join Jonathan for a personal look at this story of war made uniquely personal, through the meticulous research into diaries and letters, including boxes of previously unexplored papers – a vivid account that raises timely questions about how we define honor and how we choose our heroes.

If you are unable to attend the event, but would like to purchase one or more copies, please visit Buxton Books.

About the Book

In the tradition of Hampton Sides’s bestseller Ghost Soldiers comes a World War II story of bravery, survival, and sacrifice—the vow Douglas MacArthur made to return to the Philippines and the oath his fellow general Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright made to stay with his men there, whatever the cost. For the doomed stand American forces made in the Philippines at the start of World War II, two generals received their country’s highest military award, the Medal of Honor. One was the charismatic and controversial Douglas MacArthur, whose orders forced him to leave his soldiers on the islands to starvation and surrender, but whose vow to return echoed around the globe. The other was the gritty Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, who became a hero to the troops whose fate he insisted on sharing even when it meant becoming the highest-ranking American prisoner of the Japanese. In The Fate of the Generals, bestselling author Jonathan Horn brings together the story of two men who received the same medal but found honor on very different paths. MacArthur’s journey would require a daring escape with his wife and young child to Australia and then years of fighting over the thousands of miles needed to make it back to the Philippines, where he would fulfill his famous vow only to see the city he called home burn. Wainwright’s journey would take him from the Philippines to Taiwan and Manchuria as his captors tortured him in prisons and left him to wonder whether his countrymen would ever understand the choice he had made to surrender for the sake of his men.

About the Author

Jonathan Horn is an author and former White House presidential speechwriter whose books include Washington’s End and the Robert E. Lee biography The Man Who Would Not Be Washington, which was a Washington Post bestseller. On April 15, 2025, Scribner published his newest book, The Fate of the Generals: MacArthur, Wainwright, and the Epic Battle for the Philippines. Jonathan has written for outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times Disunion series, New York Post, The Daily Beast, National Review, and POLITICO. He has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and PBS NewsHour. During his time at the White House, Jonathan served as a speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush. A graduate of Yale University, Jonathan now lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife, children, and dog.