IKE'S BLUFF President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the World

Thomas's history breaks no new ground but cogently (if at times repetitively) recounts Eisenhower's handling of foreign relations, espionage, military affairs, and the Cold War, as well as aspects of his personal life, making for an absorbing story of his time in office. Narrator Brian Troxell accentuates that sense of story, reading at a brisk but not hurried pace, giving the narration a slight, and appropriate, hint of tension. His understanding lends sentences their proper weight and appropriate expression, but his expressiveness doesn't divert attention to the performance; he promotes the listener's absorption in the text. His voice is strong, engaging, and easy to listen to. A smattering of mispronounced words occasionally annoys but doesn't undermine this skilled and able reading of an important chapter in recent history. W.M. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2013]