Don't be fooled by the title, this isn't a traditional biography of Franklin Roosevelt. And that is a good thing, in my opinion. James MacGregor Burns captures more of a portrait of world affairs, including the actions of FDR, Churchill, Stalin, senior US and British officials, Axis leaders, and world events.
=== The Good Stuff ===
* Burns does a very through job of relating events and their interaction. For example, does a masterful job of capturing what Stalin's thought might have been as he navigated through the war and relations with Churchill and Rosevelt. Burns postulates that Stalin may have realized that he could only motivate Soviet armies to fight Germany in response to an invasion. Perhaps that explains Stalin's reluctance to accept warnings of a German invasion. The author also examines Stalin's paranoia about the US and GB hoping to bleed Germany and Russia dry fighting against each other. Limits on early deliveries of war materials to the Soviet Union certainly increased these fears.
* The book spends quite a bit of words examining FDR's leadership style. Burns believes Roosevelt was never a great strategist, and never looked much further out than 6 months. While his arguments can seem a bit shallow and poorly developed, he certainly puts forth enough justification for at least considering his opinions.
* Burns evidently had excellent access to historical records. He captures and explains some of the thinking about how the US and Britain would pursue the war, how they would support the USSR and China, and how scarce resources would be divided among all the various groups screaming for support. In many ways, these choices set the course for the war, and for the politics of the world for the next 50 years. Burns captures these decisions and their consequences quite well, and reasonably unbiased.
* The book sticks to the high ground. We don't see any of FDR's bad moods, his difficult dealings with others, or his dalliances with female staff. Instead he concentrates on the political, military and civilian leadership challenges.
=== The Not So Good Stuff ===
* The book is long, and seems longer than it is. Burns writes in a reasonably easy-to-read style, although he is prone to long paragraphs. The problem is that his writing is very detailed and complete, and there is a lot of detail which is not specifically germane to the discussion in the text. It ended up taking me over a week to read this, a very long time for me.
* Burns tosses around many great thoughts, a lot of which are great starting points for an afternoon's contemplation of how the world could have turned out. Unfortunately he doesn't really support his thoughts with arguments and justifications. Rather, he leaves a lot of loose ends for the reader to work his way through.
=== Summary ===
* I liked the book, although it was a bit of a tough read. It is very detailed, and perhaps overly so, but still proved a great look at how the war was fought at the very top levels of US and British governments. The examination of Stalin's thoughts and reactions was first rate, although most of this is, of course, speculative.
I'd recommend the book for any true fans of WWII, and especially those more interested in the political rather than the military side of thngs.
OR
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
All 2 for you in this series
See full series
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
