At the outbreak of World War I, Hoover was a wealthy mining engineer and businessman living in London. In a short time, he became the founder and brilliant director of an unprecedented international relief organization, which provided desperately needed food to more than 9,000,000 Belgian and French citizens trapped between the German army of occupation and the British naval blockade. By 1919, when his Commission for Relief in Belgium closed its operations, it had expended nearly $1 billion--and had created a twentieth-century hero.

By then, Hoover had irrevocably embarked on the slippery road of public life, which eventually led him to the White House door. This book--based on research conducted on three continents--is the second volume in Dr. Nash's definitive account of Hoover's life.