Pulitzer Prize Biography Winner

The Training of an American

by Burton J. Hendrick

Summary

Hendrick traces the early life and formation of Walter Hines Page, the journalist, editor, and diplomat who became United States ambassador to Britain during the First World War. Drawing heavily on Page's own letters, the book follows his rise from a North Carolina upbringing through the editorial world of American magazines. It reads as a study of how character and conviction shaped a man who would later sit at the center of wartime diplomacy.

Historical Context & Significance

The book covers the years before 1913 and served as a companion to Hendrick's earlier Pulitzer winning collection of Page's wartime letters.