Those Angry Days by Lynne Olson

Those Angry Days by Lynne Olson

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW AND KIRKUS REVIEWS

From the acclaimed author of Citizens of London comes the definitive account of the debate over American intervention in World War II--a bitter, sometimes violent clash of personalities and ideas that divided the nation and ultimately determined the fate of the free world.

At the center of this controversy stood the two most famous men in America: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who championed the interventionist cause, and aviator Charles Lindbergh, who as unofficial leader and spokesman for America's isolationists emerged as the president's most formidable adversary. Their contest of wills personified the divisions within the country at large, and Lynne Olson makes masterly use of their dramatic personal stories to create a poignant and riveting narrative. While FDR, buffeted by political pressures on all sides, struggled to marshal public support for aid to Winston Churchill's Britain, Lindbergh saw his heroic reputation besmirched--and his marriage thrown into turmoil--by allegations that he was a Nazi sympathizer.

Spanning the years 1939 to 1941, Those Angry Days vividly re-creates the rancorous internal squabbles that gripped the United States in the period leading up to Pearl Harbor. After Germany vanquished most of Europe, America found itself torn between its traditional isolationism and the urgent need to come to the aid of Britain, the only country still battling Hitler. The conflict over intervention was, as FDR noted, a dirty fight, rife with chicanery and intrigue, and Those Angry Days recounts every bruising detail. In Washington, a group of high-ranking military officers, including the Air Force chief of staff, worked to sabotage FDR's pro-British policies. Roosevelt, meanwhile, authorized FBI wiretaps of Lindbergh and other opponents of intervention. At the same time, a covert British operation, approved by the president, spied on antiwar groups, dug up dirt on congressional isolationists, and planted propaganda in U.S. newspapers.

The stakes could not have been higher. The combatants were larger than life. With the immediacy of a great novel, Those Angry Days brilliantly recalls a time fraught with danger when the future of democracy and America's role in the world hung in the balance.

Praise for Those Angry Days

Powerfully re-creates] this tenebrous era . . . Olson captures in spellbinding detail the key figures in the battle between the Roosevelt administration and the isolationist movement.--The New York Times Book Review

Popular history at its most riveting . . . In Those Angry Days, journalist-turned-historian Lynne Olson captures the] period in a fast-moving, highly readable narrative punctuated by high drama.--Associated Press

Filled with fascinating anecdotes and surprising twists . . . With this stirring book, Lynne Olson confirms her status as our era's foremost chronicler of World War II politics and diplomacy.--Madeleine K. Albright

An] absorbing chronicle . . . Olson] doesn't so much revisit a historical period as inhabit it; her scenes flicker as urgently as a newsreel.--The Christian Science Monitor

Masterfully describes America's conflicting opinions before Pearl Harbor . . . a comprehensive take on another era of angry divisions.--Richmond Times-Dispatch

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781400069743
ISBN 10	1400069742
Title	Those Angry Days
Author	Lynne Olson
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	2013-03-26
Number of pages	592
Prizes	Commended for Cundill Prize 2013
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.