Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour

This stellar anthology, woven like a fine tribal tapestry, has already unleashed torrents of superlatives and accolades. It's just that we can't seem to say enough good things about Lynne Olson's documentary. I believe because it gets rarer and scarcer to find anybody willing to go to so much effort to verify so many minute details, books, statements, memos, letters and notes,then blend them into a readable, understandable, interesting, unique, personal, historically-accurate drama about 'The Americans who stood with Britain in it's darkest, finest hour.' These are the tales of unrelenting courage and patriotism; from the top down. Where, not only average, ordinary citizens stood tall---but three uncommon men of authority in high positions in their socio-economic fields in their home country, America, quietly rose to their zenith in business, politics and philanthropic dedication. These three key leaders: Gil Wynant, Averell Harriman and Ed Murrow in the Top Tier, Olson followed with the Sub-set of No.4. and No.5., Dwight D. Eisenhower and Tommy Hitchcock. When the Battle of Britain and the Normandy Invasion plans were drawn each had a vital part to play through a dedicated connection, friendship or by virtue of their position at the time---with one of the Central Leaders of both the United States of America or Great Britain: President Franklin D. Roosevelt with Harry Hopkins or Prime Minister Winston Churchill, or King George VI. Joseph Stalin, leader of Russia, a ruthless dictator who promised the others anything to achieve his communist goals--was beguiling in his attempt to gain total control of Europe at the close of WWII. The Top Tier never stopped their tenacious pressure on the U.S. govenment and FDR, to get involved and step to the plate, "to save Great Britain and Europe before it's too late!" Never! Lynne Olson brings the reader, historian or novice, a power-packed infusion of intimate, personal, private, insider's revelations and spell-binding information on a life-changing subject most of us grew up with daily, for years---and knew very little about; until now! (May 3, 2010) Having known, studied or worked for leaders, especially Eccentric Leaders like Howard Hughes, Bill Lear, Tommy Hitchcock, Henry Ford, Sen. Barry Goldwater, Abraham Lincoln, Bill Harrah, President Ronald Reagan, Clark Gable, John Wayne, Judge Wm P. Clark, Jr., Hon.Thomas C.Reed, Hon.Edwin Meese III; the list goes on: It's easy to recognize the charcteristics and qualities that set the tone of Olson's Top Tier Group; Wynant, Harriman and Murrow. The key was Wynant, more so than Harriman, who built a strong bond of, almost invincible confidence with FDR. Many Eccentric Leaders were upper-society people. Most worked hard and best behind the scenes! These Eccentric Leaders worked best behind the scenes; as a TEAM. To steer the complex 'ship' of state of Great Britain through the perilous waters of behind-the-scenes diplomacy and decorum, generally needing a helping hand or helpful word from a colleague, rather than taking the credit themselves. Good conclusions many times resulted but those results were like small tributes to the dentist who had just performed your root-canal. The main result: FDR's reluctant, almost pained along with America's, Final "Yes" to entry into the war; which eventually prevented Great Britain from being devoured! The Sub-set of Tommy Hitchcock and General Dwight Eisenhower had many similar characteristics and qualities as had the Top Tier---and Olson brought them out masterfully. The Key Qualities for all five was headed by each of them being; GOAL ORIENTED--always with an eye on the prize. EXAMPLE: Two Eccentric Leaders, Howard Hughes developed from scratch (with some financial help from Henry J. Kaiser)and flew at the end of the War(1947)the HERCULES H-4 Flying boat aka "The Spruce Goose." Tommy Hitchcock developed. reconfigured and repowered the famed U.S. fighter plane, with new Rolls Royce engines: the P-51B MUSTANG. He became a flying "ace" like Hughes. Characteristics of Eccentric Leaders: * Generally speaking * 1. Making money. 2.Philanthropy. Helping others less fortunate. 3.Passionate, intense lovers. 4.Many worked with little sleep. 5. Idea people. 6.Never afraid (like Gill Wynant) to go to the top. 7. Ability to cement Trust and Confidence with leaders of Military, Government and Business everywhere. 8. Recognized and appreciated by ordinary citizens. 9. Prescient. 10. Honest. 11. High I.Q'.s 12. Incredibly deep photographic memories--beyond that of normal human beings. 13. Some, not all, had an abiding faith in a Higher Power. Olson captured, like no writer has yet, the Ed Murrow-syle journalist's Magic typewriter/keyboard, pen and voice in "Citizens of London" The mural they painted across the world, then and now, the smoke of ruined, burning homes, destroyed lives and memories. The eerie moan of air-raid sirens in the night followed by the flying "Buzz" bombs---Hitler's latest technical marvel; the V1 and V2 Rockets which could fly across the channel and destroy entire English neighborhoods. The aromas of death---the sounds of war. Olson has brought these unique players, borrowed for the British stage, into the dynamics of battle and exposed the raw side of war with all of it's Glory, Temptations, Adrenalin, Fear, Determination, Courage, Creativity and Compassion. And the compelling reason for all of this? FREEDOM! The research-gathering alone was a Herculean task. I know. I've done it. This work, this book, deserves TWO THUMBS UP! Top Awards to Lynne Olson & Stan Cloud! Thanks for a Great Read!!!

This is the story of the Anglo-American Alliance of World War II, of three men - John G. Winant, American Ambassador to the Court of St James. Averill Harriman, Franklin Roosevelt's Lend Lease Administrator and general "go to" guy and Edward R. Murrow, the magnificently eloquent CBS Correspondent in London - who were instrumental in creating that Alliance and of what they did over the war years from 1940-45 to maintain it. The book is or than that, however. . It's the story of the strains and struggles of two great English speaking nations trying to mount a joint effort to contain Nazi Germany at a time when German might was supreme from the shores of France to the forests of Russia, when British cities were burning, its people starving and America was a toothless giant 3,000 miles away across an Atlantic infested with German U-Boats. It's the story of the strains and struggles, the successes and failures of the relationship, of the men (and women) involved and, like all really good historical writing it captures the imagination, renews and refreshes the memories of those who lived through these times and is hard to put down. The author is Lynne Olson, an experienced reporter with a reputation for good writing and near unanimous credibility as an historian. It was a pleasure to read her book. Moreover those of us living in the US during the run up to War will attest to its historical accuracy. Insofar as the book talks about America's unprepared ness and the deep division in the country between the isolationists and the interventionists it is dead on. I just wish Ms. Olsen had been more emphatic in explaining the fact that Roosevelt was hamstrung on intervention because off the ferocity of isolationist sentiment in the United States and also because of the woeful state of our armed forces. Even if the United States had intervened by a declaration of war or, by some material help to Britain the country was a paper tiger; and intervention in 1940 may well have done more harm than good in the long run Insofar as the book narrates the personal experiences of the three "Citizens" involved it's interesting, and, though I'm not a strong moralist, would have preferred it stuck to the facts of history and skip its many pages about the sexual affairs each of these men had with women in the Churchill family . It's a verbal diorama of almost five years of war - of the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 after the fall of France where "Never (had) so many owed so much to so few" (i.e. the young men of the RAF Fighter Squadrons) - of the Blitz, the sustained strategic bombing of Britain between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, when the City of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed, when more than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged, and more than 40,000 civilians were killed, half of them in London - of the Battle of the Atlantic when German submarines almost brought Britain to her knees via the blockade. Food was rationed and rationed again, clothes were almost; unobtainable; paper for business was so scarce that this writer remembers his law firm sending bond paper so that London law firms could continue to practice. - When hundreds of thousands of Americans bagged their old clothes for Bundles for Brittan - when the tension between the British need for arms and supplies and American reluctance or inability to meet the need was almost unbearable and when these "Citizens of London" poured water on the flames - and likewise on the tensions between British military planners and the Americans over when and how the Americans could involve the Nazi military on the continent. It recounts Operation Torch (the invasion of North Africa) where the American Army was first bloodied - of the air war when the American Eighth Air Force of B-17s took the responsibility for daylight bombing over Germany with the result that until late 1944 when the long range P51 Mustang fighter became available a member of an American air crew had a one in four chance of living through his 26 missions over Germany - of the almost impossible crowding in England when the troops gathered for the D-Day assault on France on June 6 1944 - of the many disagreements between the military staffs of the respective countries, the personal strains between Roosevelt and Churchill, the problems with De Gaulle and the Free French =- and many more. It's all here and very readable. So you would do well to take advantage of the opportunity and read the book.

A detailed and fascinating work on the Americans who lived in London before, during and after the Blitz and played important roles there during World War II. The three main protagonists are Edward R. Murray a BBC broadcaster, John Gilbert Winant US ambassador to Britain and Averell Harriman who played different roles as a liaison between the US Government and the British. Also Churchill's changing relationship with Roosevelt is described in detail. Apart from the well-known names such as Eisenhower and de Gaulle, ordinary G.I.s and ordinary British people also shed a light on the love/hate relationships between Americans and the British. Amorous affairs flourish in the frenetic atmosphere of war-time London. England, in fact, is invaded, not by the German army as Hitler had hoped, but by the thousands of G.I.s who landed in Britain to prepare for D Day. Well documented and fast paced this book is a must for anyone interested in World War II and the successes and strains between the allies preparing for the invasion of France and for the final victory over Germany.

How many people knew how close these three individuals were to the Churchills and many of the most important individuals in wartime London? There is a new discovery on every page, even if you know Churchill's account of the period. Olsen's style isn't for everyone (too many contractions) but she does seem to have worked from primary sources. She is able to outline the great mistrust of the British among influential Americans; a history of that would be worth a whole other book. This period of history should be fresh in our minds as we teeter on the brink of losing that special relationship status which dates from this time. A very readable history, and just about the right length. (under 400 pp of text).

An important story about some figures in the background and centre stage during maybe the most important time of the 20th century

This book was of particular interest to me since my father was a journalist covering World War II from London in the years 1937 - 1940, approximately. He knew Ed Murrow, Eric Severeid, met Winston Churchill, etc, in those perilous times. The book is about the above mentioned politicians/journalists and also about the progress of the war as seen by them from London. The photographic cover of the book plainly delineates some of the main players in the action of the war: Winston Churchill, Harry Hopkins (FDR's assistant), John Winant (the American Ambassador to Great Britain), William Bullitt (Labour politican), and the First Lord of the Admiralty, A. V. Alexander. Winant and Churchill were particularly adamant that America should get into the war, whereas FDR was much against it - America just recovering from the Great Depression could not afford (he thought) to spends lots of money on guns, and shipping men overseas. As we all know, the Japanese by their action against Pearl Harbor, finally got FDR to act, before Great Britain got totally wiped out, and so the War was won by the West. (To sound a little Tolkien-ish about it.) In the book are many charming anecdotes, and tales of the journalists, not to mention the Ambassador, having a lovely time with certain well-bred ladies - as always wartime results in many folks reacting in a very careless way. It is an extremely well-written book, which involves the reader immediately in wartime London and the men and women who lived through it all. Heartily recommended. Linda Sheean

An amazing insight into why the world is the way it is today. The full unvarnished truth about what really happened and who was responsible. Truth is always way more outrageous than fiction ever could be. Lynne Olson does a great job of getting to the very personal reasons why things happened the way they did.