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Wartime on the Farm: Independent Reading White 10 (Reading Champion #517)
by Jackie WalterThis story is part of Reading Champion, a series carefully linked to book bands to encourage independent reading skills, developed with Dr Sue Bodman and Glen Franklin of UCL Institute of Education (IOE) Fantastic, original stories are accompanied by engaging artwork and a reading activity. Each book has been carefully graded so that it can be matched to a child's reading ability, encouraging reading for pleasure. Perfect for 7-9-year-olds or those reading book band white.In the middle of the bombing of London in World Two, Ivy and Kitty are sent to live on a farm in Cornwall to keep them safe. How will the sisters settle into their new life?
Warwick the Kingmaker: Politics, Power and Fame
by A. J. PollardWarwick the Kingmaker was a fifteenth-century celebrity; a military hero, self-publicist and populist. For twelve years he was the arbiter of English politics, not hesitating to set up and put down kings. In the dominant strand of recent English historical writing, Warwick is condemned as a man who hindered the development of the modern state; in earlier centuries he was admired as an exemplar of true nobility who defied the centralising tendencies of the crown. A. J. Pollard offers a fresh assessment, to which neither approach is entirely appropriate, of the man whose nickname has become synonymous with power broking.
Was Hitler a Darwinian?: Disputed Questions in the History of Evolutionary Theory
by Robert J. RichardsIn tracing the history of Darwin's accomplishment and the trajectory of evolutionary theory during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, most scholars agree that Darwin introduced blind mechanism into biology, thus banishing moral values from the understanding of nature. According to the standard interpretation, the principle of survival of the fittest has rendered human behavior, including moral behavior, ultimately selfish. Few doubt that Darwinian theory, especially as construed by the master's German disciple, Ernst Haeckel, inspired Hitler and led to Nazi atrocities. In this collection of essays, Robert J. Richards argues that this orthodox view is wrongheaded. A close historical examination reveals that Darwin, in more traditional fashion, constructed nature with a moral spine and provided it with a goal: man as a moral creature. The book takes up many other topics--including the character of Darwin's chief principles of natural selection and divergence, his dispute with Alfred Russel Wallace over man's big brain, the role of language in human development, his relationship to Herbert Spencer, how much his views had in common with Haeckel's, and the general problem of progress in evolution. Moreover, Richards takes a forceful stand on the timely issue of whether Darwin is to blame for Hitler's atrocities. Was Hitler a Darwinian? is intellectual history at its boldest.
Was Hitler a Riddle?: Western Democracies and National Socialism
by Abraham AscherWas Hitler A Riddle?is the first comparative study of how British, French, and American diplomats serving in Germany assessed Hitler and the Nazi movement. These assessments provided the governments in London, Paris, and Washington with ample information about the ruthlessness of the authorities in Germany and of their determination to conquer vast stretches of Europe. Had the British, French, and American leaders acted on this information and taken measures to rein in Hitler, the history of the twentieth century would have been far less bloody: the second world war might well have been avoided, the Soviet Union would not have expanded into central and eastern Europe, and the world would have been spared the Cold War.
Was Michael Jackson Framed?
by Mary A. FischerThis is it! The original GQ story that became an international sensation by exploring, for the first time in the media, the other side-the defense side-- of the 1993 Michael Jackson scandal. Today, it remains a sought-after story by the superstar's fans around the world.Until now, the original, unedited version of the GQ article has not been available. Now, two years after Michael Jackson's death, in the midst of a resurgence of his music and popularity, the official GQ story is being released, with a new cover and foreword written by the author, award-winning journalist Mary A. Fischer.As the media rushed to judgment about the '93 allegations-that Jackson had molested a 13-year-old boy-no one bothered to look in depth at Jackson's adult accusers. GQ senior writer Mary A. Fischer, known for investigating controversial, under-reported stories, took on the assignment.She spent months delving into the backgrounds of Evan Chandler and his attorney Barry K. Rothman, Jackson's main accusers. What emerged from Fischer's examination, based on court documents, business records and scores of interviews, some with confidential sources who would only meet in out of the way places, was a persuasive argument that Jackson molested no one and that he himself may have been the victim of a well-conceived plan to extract money from him.More than that, it was a classic story of greed, ambition, misconceptions on the part of police and prosecutors, a lazy and sensation-seeking media and the use of a powerful, hypnotic drug.Today, it remains an important, relevant story about how a case was simply invented. And now, for the first time in over a decade, it is available to Michael Jackson fans everywhere.
Wasabi
by Alan PaulsCrónica alucinada de cómo un escritor se fabrica un mundo atroz para acceder a la verdad del amor y la literatura. «Un tortuoso viaje hacia el interior de un escritor, una suerte de crucigrama en el que se ponen en juego su vida y sus saberes.»Clarín Apenas desembarcado en Saint-Nazaire, el puerto francés donde pasará dos meses en una residencia de escritores, un novelista argentino descubre que nada es como lo había planeado. No puede escribir. La ciudad, impersonal y vacía, reconstruida por completo después de la guerra, le quita un poco el sueño. El quiste que le ha brotado en la base del cuello no para de crecer. Su mujer se aburre y su editor, dipsómano genial, atormentado, lo mete en toda clase de situaciones equívocas. Obstrucciones y malestar: es todo lo que necesita la vida del escritor, no tan cachorro, para internarse en un laberinto de espejismos lisérgicos, trampas y peripecias delirantes. Abandonado por su mujer, que huye a Londres, y engañado por su editor; el héroe recala en París, que es sólo la máscara glamorosa de una intemperie atroz, y busca redimirse con las únicas pasiones que le quedan: el fanatismo literario y el crimen. Versión tragicómica de un viejo mito de la cultura latinoamericana -el viaje iniciático a Europa-, Wasabi es la crónica alucinada de un escritor que no escribe, distraído por el goce de zozobrar y perderse. La crítica ha dicho... «Una fascinante inmersión en lo inconsciente.»Bella Jozef «Quien aprecie la gran literatura y cultive el placer del texto saldrá regocijado de la lectura de Wasabi.»Moacyr Scliar «El surgimiento de Alan Pauls es lo mejor que podía haberle pasado a la literatura argentina desde la estrella de Manuel Puig.»Ricardo Piglia
Wase Time!: A Teen's Memoir of Gila River Internment Camp
by Kenneth Tashiro"Wase Time!" is an autobiography of my teen age years in Gila River Internment Center, Arizona. I tell my story in the first person and I include much of the humor and conversation that was popular at that time. My story begins with the aftermath of Sunday, December 7, 1941. On Monday, the 8th, I was relieved of my 6th grade job raising the American flag. On March 28, 1942, my family and I moved to Del Rey, California, which was in the "Free Zone." In July, we were told all those of Japanese ancestry would have to leave California. On August 6, we were evacuated to Gila, except for my mom who was 8 months pregnant. Gila was a big center made up of two camps: camp 1 (Canal), and camp 2 (Butte). We lived briefly in Canal, then moved to Butte because of my dad's job. I made friends with my neighbors, and Hank introduced me to many youth who were from the French Camp/Stockton area. I became a member of the Ramblers, a team which played may sports, and we won the championship of the Southwestern Football League in 1943-44. Other happy memories were my mom and sister's arrival from Fresno Assembly Center, movie night, the warehouse gang, the Boy Scouts, and my getting a response to a fan letter that I wrote to Maureen O'Hara. Sad memories include Hank's departure to Tule Lake Relocation Center, my being called a "nigger," and what I did with the letter and photos of Maureen O'Hara. On March 28, 1945, my grandfather and I left Gila to go to Chicago, Illinois, to visit relatives. I was send out of camp for being an unsavory character, according to my mom. On the train ride, I thought of all my experiences in camp. Was being in camp "wase time"?
Washed by Blood: Lessons from My Time with Korn and My Journey to Christ
by Brian WelchAn Out-of-Control Rock Star. An Inescapable Addiction to Drugs. A Miraculous Redemption through Jesus Christ.You think you've heard this story before but you haven't. Washed by Blood is a look at the dramatic saving power of Jesus Christ unlike any other—one that shows how God looks out for all of us, even those who seem farthest away from his grace. Brian "Head" Welch was a rock star who thought he had it all. He was the lead guitarist in Korn, one of the biggest and most controversial rock bands on the planet. He lived in a mansion, had millions of dollars in the bank, and legions of fans all over the globe. He was living the good life, and it should have been perfect. But it was all a lie.What no one knew was that backstage and away from the crowds, Head was fighting a debilitating addiction to methamphetamines, and that nothing—not even the birth of his daughter—could make him quit for good. He had given up. He was empty inside. He spent his days contemplating suicide convinced that each high would be his last. And that was when he found God.Washed by Blood tells the remarkable story of how God's unconditional love freed Head from his addictions and saved him from death. Here Head describes the joys and struggles of his journey to faith, detailing how Jesus has helped him cope with his pain and find the path that's right for both him and his daughter. An account of triumphs, hardships, and the healing power of Jesus, Washed by Blood is an inspirational demonstration that God is always there to save even the most troubled souls.
Washerwoman's Dream
by Hilarie LindsayA beloved Australian outback classic The epic true story of the indomitable Winifred Steger and her extraordinary life in 19th century outback Australia. Winifred Steger travelled to Australia with her father in the 1880s when he took up a land grant in north Queensland. The grant proved to be worthless, and faced with poverty, endless backbreaking work and isolation, Winifred's father spiralled into depression and alcoholism. Left to fend for herself, Winifred battled insurmountable odds to maintain her dignity and sanity, finding solace in writing to ease her hardship. Fleeing an abusive marriage also meant the heartbreak of abandoning her four children – but then miraculously she found love with an Indian trader, Ali. Together with their children, they moved to outback Australia where they ran a camel line. A new phase began in Winifred's life, taking her to places she had only ever dreamed of. The Washerwoman's Dream is the story of a remarkable woman with a tenacious spirit, and is now an enduring Australian classic. Pieced together by Hilarie Lindsay from Winifred’s memoirs, short stories, letters and unpublished novels, this is an account of the amazing life of a forgotten Australian writer. ‘One of the hardest punishments is to be thrown into the world with aspirations and dreams that cannot be fulfilled for want of education . . ’ Winifred Steger
Washington: A Life (Playaway Adult Nonfiction Ser.)
by Ron ChernowIn Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life of Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.<P><P> Despite the reverence his name inspires, Washington remains a lifeless waxwork for many Americans, worthy but dull. A laconic man of granite self-control, he often arouses more respect than affection. In this groundbreaking work, based on massive research, Chernow dashes forever the stereotype of a stolid, unemotional man. A strapping six feet, Washington was a celebrated horseman, elegant dancer, and tireless hunter, with a fiercely guarded emotional life. Chernow brings to vivid life a dashing, passionate man of fiery opinions and many moods. Probing his private life, he explores his fraught relationship with his crusty mother, his youthful infatuation with the married Sally Fairfax, and his often conflicted feelings toward his adopted children and grandchildren. He also provides a lavishly detailed portrait of his marriage to Martha and his complex behavior as a slave master.<P> At the same time, Washington is an astute and surprising portrait of a canny political genius who knew how to inspire people. Not only did Washington gather around himself the foremost figures of the age, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but he also brilliantly orchestrated their actions to shape the new federal government, define the separation of powers, and establish the office of the presidency.<P> In this unique biography, Ron Chernow takes us on a page-turning journey through all the formative events of America's founding. With a dramatic sweep worthy of its giant subject, Washington is a magisterial work from one of our most elegant storytellers.<P> Pulitzer Prize Winner
Washington: The Indispensable Man (The\illustrated Editions Ser.)
by James Thomas FlexnerThis &“perceptive&” and &“satisfying&” biography of George Washington by an award-winning historian &“deserves a place on every American&’s bookshelf&” (The New York Times Book Review). James Thomas Flexner&’s masterful four-volume biography of America&’s first president, which received a special Pulitzer Prize citation and a National Book Award for its concluding installment, is the definitive chronicle of Washington&’s life and a classic work of American history. In this single-volume edition, Flexner brilliantly distills his sweeping study to offer readers &“the most convincing evocation of the man and his deeds written within the compass of one book&” (Los Angeles Times). In graceful and dramatic prose, Flexner peels back the myths surrounding Washington to reveal the true complexity of his character. The only founding father from Virginia to free all his slaves, Washington was a faithful husband who harbored deep romantic feelings for his best friend&’s wife. An amateur soldier, he prepared for his role as commander in chief of the Continental army by sending out to Philadelphia bookshops for treatises on military strategy. As president, he set many democratic precedents—including the two-term limit and the appointment of an advisory cabinet—yet routinely excluded his vice president, John Adams, from important decisions. The George Washington that emerges in these pages is a shrewd statesman, a wise commander, a brave patriot, and above all, &“an ordinary man pushed to greatness by the extraordinary times in which he lived&” (The Christian Science Monitor). In tracing Washington&’s evolution from privileged son of the landed gentry to &“the indispensable man&” without whom the United States as we know it would not exist, Flexner presents a hero worthy of admiration not only for his remarkable strengths, but also for his all-too-human weaknesses.
Washington
by Douglas Southall FreemanWinner of the Pulitzer Prize, Freeman's epic seven-volume biography of the founding father is here abridged
Washington
by Meg GreenfieldA national bestseller and a timeless classic on the ways and mores of our nation's capitol
Washington: A Legacy of Leadership (The Generals Series)
by Paul VickeryHis name is carved in granite, his likeness cast in bronze, his legend as large as the role he played as America's first president. But before he was a commander-in-chief, George Washington was a general in a revolution that would decide the future of the people and land he called his own. If victorious, he would gain immortality. If defeated, he would find his neck in a hangman's noose. Washington knew the sting of defeat?at Brandywine, at Germantown?yet this unwavering leadership and his vision for a new and independent nation emboldened an army prepared to fight barefoot if necessary to win that independence. Wrote an officer after the Battle of Princeton: "I saw him brave all the dangers of the field and his important life hanging as it were by a single hair with a thousand deaths flying around him." Among America's pantheon of Founding Fathers, one man?to this day?stands out. Author Paul Vickery tracks the unlikely rise of Washington, a man whose stature in command of a young army became prelude to a presidency. As Vickery writes, "He learned to become the father of our country by first being the father of our military."
Washington and Hamilton
by Tony Williams Stephen F. KnottThe first book to explore the complex friendship between George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, this captivating history reveals how their little-known but remarkable collaboration led to the emergence of the U. S. as a world power. Washington, who was devoted to classical virtues, and Hamilton, who was guided by the pursuit of honor, closely cooperated in America's early days-but their rival ideas also threatened the future of the new republic. From the start of the Revolution through the first decade of the American presidency, this groundbreaking book chronicles how their fascinating relationship impacted the American people and resulted in the birth of politics as we know it today.
Washington at the Plow: The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery
by Bruce A. RagsdaleA fresh, original look at George Washington as an innovative land manager whose singular passion for farming would unexpectedly lead him to reject slavery. George Washington spent more of his working life farming than he did at war or in political office. For over forty years, he devoted himself to the improvement of agriculture, which he saw as the means by which the American people would attain the “respectability & importance which we ought to hold in the world.” Washington at the Plow depicts the “first farmer of America” as a leading practitioner of the New Husbandry, a transatlantic movement that spearheaded advancements in crop rotation. A tireless experimentalist, Washington pulled up his tobacco and switched to wheat production, leading the way for the rest of the country. He filled his library with the latest agricultural treatises and pioneered land-management techniques that he hoped would guide small farmers, strengthen agrarian society, and ensure the prosperity of the nation. Slavery was a key part of Washington’s pursuits. He saw enslaved field workers and artisans as means of agricultural development and tried repeatedly to adapt slave labor to new kinds of farming. To this end, he devised an original and exacting system of slave supervision. But Washington eventually found that forced labor could not achieve the productivity he desired. His inability to reconcile ideals of scientific farming and rural order with race-based slavery led him to reconsider the traditional foundations of the Virginia plantation. As Bruce Ragsdale shows, it was the inefficacy of chattel slavery, as much as moral revulsion at the practice, that informed Washington’s famous decision to free his slaves after his death.
The Washington Century: Three Families and the Shaping of the Nation's Capital
by Burt SolomonThe Washington Century chronicles the hundred-year rise of the nation's capital as it grew to become the most powerful city in the world -- a story made vivid through the history of three very different families, each representing an essential aspect of Washington: the Cafritzes, headed by a real estate mogul and his consummate hostess wife; the Boggs family, a political force in the ultimate political town; and the Hobsons, lead by a prominent black activist and civic leader in the first black-majority American city. Veteran journalist Burt Solomon uses these families to explore everything from the customs of Washington's elite society to the expansion of the federal bureaucracy, the District's own struggle for self-governance, and the influential role that politics and, increasingly, lobbying have played in the city.
Washington D.C. From A-Z
by Alan SchroederSee our nation's capital like never before!In almost 100 entries from A to Z discover little-known lore, hidden history, and quotable quotes about Washington D.C.Throughout the book, humorous full-color cartoons enhance the funny, strange, and intriguing details behind important landmarks and the people who have come to the capital to run the nation&’s business, celebrate, protest, live in the thick of it or just visit. From the aluminum tip of the towering Washington Monument to the marble bathtubs in the Capital building&’s basement, this book offers a top to bottom look at Washington D.C. and its eclectic history that will enchant visitors and locals alike. The end papers feature a comprehensive map of the District showing locations of key buildings including The White House, The Washington Monument, The Lincoln Memorial, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and The Capitol building as well as many other important locations.A Junior Library Guild selection!
Washington, DC, Jazz (Images of America)
by Regennia N. WilliamsWashington, DC, Jazz focuses, primarily, on the history of straight-ahead jazz, using oral histories, materials from the William P. Gottlieb Collection at the Library of Congress, the Felix E. Grant Jazz Archives at the University of the District of Columbia, and Smithsonian Jazz.Home to "Black Broadway" and the Howard Theatre in the Greater U Street area, Washington, DC, has long been associated with American jazz. Duke Ellington and Billy Eckstine launched their careers there in the early 20th century. Decades later, Shirley Horn and Buck Hill would follow their leads, and DC's "jazz millennials" include graduates of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. For years, Bohemian Caverns and One Step Down were among the clubs serving as gathering places for producers and consumers of jazz, even as Rusty Hassan and other programmers used radio to promote the music. This volume also features the work of photographers Nathaniel Rhodes, Michael Wilderman, and Lawrence A. Randall.
Washington Gone Crazy
by YbarraIN THIS SWEEPING, monumental work of American history, journalist Michael J. Ybarra tells the story of Senator Pat McCarran’s extraordinary career for the first time, and he vividly re-creates a passionate era of politics that reshaped America and echoes to this day. Brilliantly researched and energetically written,Washington Gone Crazymakes a significant new contribution to our understanding of the United States in the twentieth century. McCarran was one of the most shrewd and powerful — and vindictive — lawmakers ever to sit in Congress. Joe McCarthy gave his name to the cause of zealous anti-Communism, but it was McCarran, a lifelong Democrat, who actually wrote the laws, held the hearings, and bullied the State and Justice Departments into doing his bidding. McCarran was consumed with looking for Communists in Washington and his obsession almost consumed the country. The son of illiterate Irish immigrants, McCarran was born in 1876 in Nevada, where he grew up to be a sheepherder who taught himself the law around the campfire, becoming a legendary defense attorney and judge. After struggling for years against the local Democratic political machine, McCarran rode Franklin Roosevelt’s landslide into the U. S. Senate in 1932 — and broke ranks with Roosevelt during the New Deal’s first week. But it was President Harry Truman who would become McCarran’s real nemesis. A master of parliamentary procedure, McCarran turned his Senate Judiciary Committee into a virtual government within the government. McCarran worked with J. Edgar Hoover to undermine the Truman Administration before McCarthy even got to Washington. He created the most far-reaching anti-sedition law ever enacted in America (the McCarran Internal Security Act), which filled Ellis Island with immigrants alleged to be subversives and set up concentration camps to hold suspected traitors in the case of a national emergency. McCarran’s Senate Internal Security Subcommittee cowed the State Department into sacrificing the careers of diplomats accused of helping the Communists take over China. McCarran virtually blackmailed more than one attorney general into carrying out his policies. From Capitol Hill to the United Nations, from union halls to Hollywood, McCarran’s wrath broke careers and lives and ultimately, in a self-destructive fit of pique, cost his party control of the Senate. Ybarra’s even-handed narrative shows that McCarran was ultimately half right: There really were Communists in Washington — but it was the hunt for them that did the real damage.
Washington Gone Crazy: Senator Pat McCarran and the Great American Communist Hunt
by Michael J. YbarraStory of events leading up to the McCarthy excesses.
Washington Irving: The Definitive Biography of America's First Bestselling Author
by Brian Jay JonesBrian Jay Jones crafts a deft biography of the author of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip van Winkle": quintessential New Yorker, presidential confidant, diplomat, lawyer, and fascinating charmer. The first American writer to make his pen his primary means of support, Washington Irving rocketed to fame at the age of twenty-six. In 1809 he published A History of New York under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, to great acclaim. The public's appetite for all things Irving was insatiable; his name alone guaranteed sales.At the time, he was one of the most famous men in the world, a friend of Dickens, Hawthorne, and Longfellow, as well as Astor, van Buren, and Madison. But his sparkling public persona was only one side of this gentleman author. In brilliant, meticulous strokes, Brian Jay Jones renders Washington Irving in all his flawed splendor-someone who fretted about money and employment, suffered from writer's block, and doggedly cultivated his reputation. Jones offers a very human portrait of the often contrasting public and private lives of this true American original.
Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon's Downfall
by Elizabeth DrewAn updated edition of the landmark work of political journalism:“Unquestionably the best book yet on Watergate, and conceivably the best we will ever get.” —Greil Marcus, Rolling StoneWashington Journal opens in 1973 and follows the deterioration of Richard Nixon’s presidency in real time. With her unprecedented access to the top figures, Elizabeth Drew’s on-the-scene reporting is even more remarkable in hindsight, as Washington Journal captures the feeling of the period and reports conversations with the key decision-makers as they made up their minds about the most fateful vote they would cast. It also shows us the sense of fear among both close observers and the citizenry, as well as their nervous laughter at the era’s absurdities. Drew understands Richard Nixon as well as this most complex figure can be understood, and she shows how he brought himself down. This edition includes a new afterword revealing the fascinating—and frequently hilarious—story of Nixon’s efforts to regain respectability after he’d been forced from office, and also offers original insights into the meaning of Watergate andNixon. Rich with new information unavailable at the time, the afterword is a major addition to a unique and enduring work of reportage.“Tells the story not as a tidy tale with a clear beginning and inevitable end, but as an experience thick with confusion, rumors, alarm, and half-truths . . . Helpful for trying to understand what it is like to live through a period of great confusion and potentially great import.” —Ezra Klein“An amazing book that more than stands the test of time.” —Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize winner and #1 New York Times-bestselling author of And There Was Light“To understand how the melodrama played out in real time in the capital, there may be no better guide than Washington Journal.” —Frank Rich, New York Magazine
Washington Merry-Go-Round: The Drew Pearson Diaries, 1960-1969
by Drew Pearson Peter Hannaford Richard Norton SmithFor most of three decades, Drew Pearson was the most well-known journalist in the United States. In his daily newspaper column—the most widely syndicated in the nation—and on radio and television broadcasts, he chronicled the political and public policy news of the nation. At the same time, he worked his way into the inner circles of policy makers in the White House and Congress, lobbying for issues he believed would promote better government and world peace. Pearson, however, still found time to record his thoughts and observations in his personal diary. Published here for the first time, Washington Merry-Go-Round presents Pearson’s private impressions of life inside the Beltway from 1960 to 1969, revealing how he held the confidence of presidents—especially Lyndon B. Johnson—congressional leaders, media moguls, political insiders, and dozens of otherwise unknown sources of information. His direct interactions with the DC glitterati, including Bobby Kennedy and Douglas MacArthur, are featured throughout his diary, drawing the reader into the compelling political intrigues of 1960s Washington and providing the mysterious backstory on the famous and the notorious of the era.
The Washington War: FDR's Inner Circle and the Politics of Power That Won World War II
by James LaceyA Team of Rivals for World War II—the inside story of how FDR and the towering personalities around him waged war in the corridors of Washington, D.C., to secure ultimate victory on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific. The Washington War is the story of how the Second World War was fought and won in the capital’s halls of power—and how the United States, which in December 1941 had a nominal army and a decimated naval fleet, was able in only thirty months to fling huge forces onto the European continent and shortly thereafter shatter Imperial Japan’s Pacific strongholds. Three quarters of a century after the overwhelming defeat of the totalitarian Axis forces, the terrifying, razor-thin calculus on which so many critical decisions turned has been forgotten—but had any of these debates gone the other way, the outcome of the war could have been far different: The army in August 1941, about to be disbanded, saved by a single vote. Production plans that would have delayed adequate war matériel for years after Pearl Harbor, circumvented by one uncompromising man’s courage and drive. The delicate ballet that precluded a separate peace between Stalin and Hitler. The almost-adopted strategy to stage D-Day at a fatally different time and place. It was all a breathtakingly close-run thing, again and again. Renowned historian James Lacey takes readers behind the scenes in the cabinet rooms, the Pentagon, the Oval Office, and Hyde Park, and at the pivotal conferences—Campobello Island, Casablanca, Tehran—as these disputes raged. Here are colorful portraits of the great figures—and forgotten geniuses—of the day: New Dealers versus industrialists, political power brokers versus the generals, Churchill and the British high command versus the U.S. chiefs of staff, innovators versus entrenched bureaucrats . . . with the master manipulator, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at the center, setting his brawling patriots one against the other and promoting and capitalizing on the furious turf wars. Based on years of research and extensive, previously untapped archival resources, The Washington War is the first integrated, comprehensive chronicle of how all these elements—and towering personalities—clashed and ultimately coalesced at each vital turning point, the definitive account of Washington at real war and the titanic political and bureaucratic infighting that miraculously led to final victory.