New York: Laurel Trade Paperback [a Division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.], 1989. Later printing. Trade paperback. The format is approximately 5.375 inches by 8 inches. xv, [3], 973, [1] pages. Maps. Chronology. Illustrations. Source Notes. Select Bibliography. Index. Some cover wear. William Raymond Manchester (April 1, 1922 – June 1, 2004) was an American author, biographer, and historian. He was the author of 18 books which have been translated into over 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the Abraham Lincoln Literary Award. In 1947, Manchester went to work as a reporter for The Baltimore Sun, where he met journalist H. L. Mencken, who became his friend and mentor, and also became the subject of Manchester's master's thesis and first book, Disturber of the Peace. The biography, published in 1951, profiles Mencken, the self-described "conservative anarchist" who made his mark as a writer, editor, and political pundit in the 1920s. Manchester's wartime experiences formed the basis for his very personal account of the Pacific Theater, Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War. Manchester also wrote of World War II in several other books, including a three-part biography, The Last Lion, of Winston Churchill. Manchester also wrote a biography of General Douglas MacArthur, American Caesar. His best-selling book, The Death of a President (1967), is a detailed account of the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy, who had been the subject of an earlier book by Manchester. More