THE NEW DEALERS' WAR: F.D.R. And The War Within World War II

Fleming, Thomas

ISBN 10: 0465024645 / ISBN 13: 9780465024643

Edité par NY. 2001. Basic Books / Perseus Book Group, 2001

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black hardcover 8vo. (octavo). dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. very fine cond. mint cond. looks new. like new. as new. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. contents free of markings. dustwrapper in very fine cond. not worn or torn or price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking, underlining, remainder markings etc~. first edition. first printing (#1 in # line). deckled foredge. xii+628p. glossy b&w photo illustrations. notes. index. biography. world history. american history. world war ii. ~ Solidly challenging the idea that World War II was a "good war," The New Dealers' War offers a drastically new look at the conflict that has dominated the history of the twentieth century. For many Americans, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's role in leading the United States throughout most of World War II has made him one of America's most venerated presidents. Biographers have all but lionized FDR for his war leadership, a tendency that has been reinforced lately as Americans celebrate the riches of memory by saluting the generation that won that titanic global conflict with blockbuster movies and bestselling books. But, as Thomas Fleming reminds us, memory is not history, and in The New Dealers' War, he reveals an entirely different Roosevelt from the one that most people like to remember. Starting with the leak to the press of Roosevelt's famous Rainbow Plan~for which Fleming blames Roosevelt himself, as a way of manipulating Hitler into a declaration of war against the US~then spiraling back to FDR's inept prewar diplomacy with Japan and his various duplicities in luring Japan into an attack on the US Fleet in the Pacific, Fleming takes us on a journey through the incredibly fractious struggles and debates that went on in Washington, the nation, and the world as FDR and his fellow New Dealers strove to impose their will on the conduct of the War. At the center, however, is Roosevelt, a president waging a global war, a leader in remorseless decline, battered by ideological forces and primitive hatreds which he frequently failed to understand, often leading to disastrous consequences. Among these was his insistence on "unconditional surrender" for Germany and Japan, which he announced at the 1943 Casablanca summit conference. Winston Churchill was "dumbfounded" and Dwight Eisenhower, George Marhsall and virtually every other high~ranking officer in the British and American high command were appalled. The policy doomed the hopes of the German Resistance for a coup d'etat that would have ended the war in 1943, saving millions of lives. No one in England or America was even dimly aware of the existence of this "Front of Decent People" because FDR had forbidden any mention of them in the media. Equally unpublicized was the awful fate of Europe's Jews, about which the New Dealers did little but wring their hands. Meanwhile, Roosevelt and his inner circle embraced Soviet Russia's dictator, Josef Stalin, not merely as a badly needed wartime ally, but as a benevolent partner in the postwar world. In doing so, they suppressed the story of the Katyn Massacre and ignored evidence that Stalin had Soviet agents at the highest levels of the American government. Unquestionably, The New Dealers' War is one of those rare books that will force readers to rethink what they think they know about one of the most pivotal events in the American past. It will surely spark debate about FDR's role in shaping the course of history in the twentieth century.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: THE NEW DEALERS' WAR: F.D.R. And The War Within World War II
• Éditeur: NY. 2001. Basic Books / Perseus Book Group
• Date de parution: 2001
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0465024645
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780465024643
• Reliure: Couverture rigide
• Édition: Edition originale
• État de la jaquette: Jaquette
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • biography
  • american history
  • world war ii

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Synopsis

Acclaimed historian Thomas Fleming brings to life the flawed and troubled FDR who struggled to manage WWII. Starting with the leak to the press of Roosevelt's famous Rainbow Plan, then spiraling back to FDR's inept prewar diplomacy with Japan, and his various attempts to lure Japan into an attack on the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific, Fleming takes the reader inside the incredibly fractious struggles and debates that went on in Washington, the nation, and the world as the New Dealers, led by FDR, strove to impose their will on the conduct of the War. Unlike the familiar yet idealized FDR of Doris Kearns Goodwin's No Ordinary Time, the reader encounters a Roosevelt in remorseless decline, battered by ideological forces and primitive hatreds which he could not handle-and frequently failed to understand-some of them leading to unimaginable catastrophe. Among FDR's most dismaying policies, Fleming argues, were an insistence on "unconditional surrender" for Germany (a policy that perhaps prolonged the war by as many as two years, leaving millions more dead) and his often uncritical embrace of and acquiescence to Stalin and the Soviets as an ally.For many Americans, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is a beloved, heroic, almost mythic figure, if not for the "big government" that was spawned under his New Deal, then certainly for his leadership through the War. The New Dealers' War paints a very different portrait of this leadership. It is sure to spark debate.