The conquerors : Roosevelt, Truman and the destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945 / Michael Beschloss.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Beschloss, Michael R.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.

Roosevelt, Franklin D.

Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972.

Truman, Harry S.

Morgenthau, Henry, 1891-1967.

Morgenthau, Henry.

World War, 1939-1945--Germany.

World War, 1939-1945.

Reconstruction (1939-1951)--Germany.

Reconstruction (1939-1951).

Germany.

World War, 1939-1945--Diplomatic history.

Diplomatic history.

United States--Foreign relations--1933-1945.

United States.

International relations.

United States--Politics and government--1933-1945.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xiv, 377 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Simon & Schuster, [2002]

Summary:

From one of America's most respected historians, The Conquerors reveals one of the most important stories of World War II. As Allied soldiers fought the Nazis, Franklin Roosevelt and, later, Harry Truman fought in private with Churchill and Stalin over how to ensure that Germany could never threaten the world again. Eleven years in the writing, drawing on newly opened American, Soviet and British documents as well as private diaries, letters and secret audio recordings, Michael Beschloss's gripping narrative lets us eavesdrop on private conversations and telephone calls among a cast of historical giants. The book casts new light upon Roosevelt's concealment of what America knew about Hitler's war against the Jews and his foot-dragging on saving refugees; FDR's actions so shocked his closest friend in the Cabinet, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., that Morgenthau risked their friendship by accusing the President of "acquiescence" in the "murder of the Jews."

After the Normandy invasion, "obsessed" by what he had learned about the Nazis and the Holocaust, Morgenthau drew up a secret blueprint for the Allies to crush Germany by destroying German mines and factories after the European victory. As The Conquerors shows, FDR endorsed most of Morgenthau's plan, and privately pressured a reluctant Churchill to concur. Horrified, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Secretary of War Henry Stimson leaked the plan to the press at the zenith of the 1944 campaign. Hitler's propagandist Joseph Goebbels denounced the Roosevelt-Churchill "Jewish murder plan" and claimed it would kill forty-three million Germans. Republican presidential candidate Thomas Dewey charged that by stiffening German resistance, publicity about Morgenthau's plan had cost many U.S. soldiers' lives. The Conquerors explores suspicions that Soviet secret agents manipulated Roosevelt and his officials to do Stalin's bidding on Germany. It reveals new information on FDR's hidden illnesses and how they affected his leadership -- and his private talk about quitting his job during his fourth term and letting Harry Truman become President. It shows us FDR's final dinner, in April 1945, in Warm Springs, Georgia, at which the President and Morgenthau were still arguing over postwar Germany. Finally it shows how the unprepared new President Truman managed to pick up the pieces and push Stalin and Churchill to accede to a bargain that would let the Anglo-Americans block Soviet threats against Western Europe and ensure that the world would not have to fear another Adolf Hitler.

Contents:

Chapter 1 The Plot to Murder Hitler 1

Chapter 2 "Unconditional Surrender" 9

Chapter 3 "Fifty Thousand Germans Must Be Shot!" 18

Chapter 4 "On the Back of an Envelope" 29

Chapter 5 The Terrible Silence 38

Chapter 6 The "One Hundred Percent American" 44

Chapter 7 "Oppressor of the Jews" 56

Chapter 8 "We Will Have to Get Awfully Busy" 70

Chapter 9 "Not Nearly as Bad as Sending Them to Gas Chambers" 82

Chapter 10 "Somebody's Got to Take the Lead" 91

Chapter 11 "Christianity and Kindness" 98

Chapter 12 "It Is Very, Very Necessary" 113

Chapter 13 "Do You Want Me to Beg Like Fala?" 121

Chapter 14 "A Hell of a Hubbub" 136

Chapter 15 "As Useful as Ten Fresh German Divisions" 150

Chapter 16 "Lord Give the President Strength" 166

Chapter 17 "The Only Bond Is Their Common Hate" 178

Chapter 18 "Arguing About the Future of the World" 189

Chapter 19 "No Earthly Powers Can Keep Him Here" 203

Chapter 20 "What Will We Make of It?" 216

Chapter 21 "I Was Never in Favor of That Crazy Plan" 226

Chapter 22 "You and I Will Have to Bear Great Responsibility" 238

Chapter 23 "How I Hate This Trip!" 247

Chapter 24 "We Are Drifting Toward a Line Down the Center of Germany" 260

Chapter 25 "The Spirit and Soul of a People Reborn" 271

Chapter 26 The Conquerors 283.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-314) and index.

ISBN:

0684810271

OCLC:

50315054