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Summary: "Popular History" at its worst.
Review: In this book Beschloss tries to turn one of the most sinister figures of WWII, Henry Morganthau,into a hero.He fails miserably.If Morganthau's genocidal plan for post war Germany had been carried out it would have killed millions of people and virtually guaranteed another war.It's pretty hard to put a positive spin on that! This book is just more proof that "popular history" is usually bad history.
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Summary: The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman ................
Review: The title in misleading. It was more about Morgenthau than Truman. Indeed, after Beschloss went into great detail regarding Roosevelt and Morgenthau, he rushed through the chapters on Truman. It is almost as if he wanted to hurry up and finish the book. All in all, a disappointing read.
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Summary: Minutae Minutae Minutae Minutae
Review: Brutal display of trivial details of the war years seen through Henry Morganthau. Totally deceiving title and cover. A very hard read, minute by boring minute account of fragmented conversations and excerped documents. No real no need for chapter headings, cause it's just one long yatta yatta yatta! Just because a record's been uncovered doesnt mean it should not stay covered.
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Summary: A Different Slant
Review: The title is misleading as the scope of this book is narrow in focus. Notwithstanding that, this book is very worthwile to someone interested in the Second World War. Yes, it does appear at times that this book is a biograhpy of Morganthou. However, there is fresh information and look at the political influences behind the Allies post war plans for Germany.The book does amplify Churchill's foresight in his concern of a post-war Soviet Union. The decisions may not have been as rationally made by the Roosevelt administration as one would expect; however, the book illuminates post war thinking of a strong or weak Germany to provide a buffer or balance for the Soviet Union. A must read for students of the political history of World War II.
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Summary: Roosevelt's Feet of Clay
Review: I brought to my reading of this book an obviously inflated opinion of FDR. Born in the depression, I grew up idolizing him. The details Beschloss presents here add up to a not very flattering view of FDR. His indesiviveness, his practice of setting one aide against another, his absolutely astounding decision to keep Truman in the dark, his vaccilation about the Jewish crisis in Germany--all contribute to a bit of disillusion. The fact that Truman had NEVER been in the war room, had no knowledge of the developing atom bomb (despite being chairman of the Senate committee concerned therewith), was never shown the correspondence from Stalin and Churchill, was not even given a full report on the various great conferences held by Churchill/Roosevelt/Stalin--all this makes me wonder how FDR did as well as he did in the economic crisis of the 1930's. This is an interesting, informative book, but get ready for some information you might not particularly want to learn.
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Summary: A valuable book, though it's slightly frustrating at times
Review: The title of the new book from Michael Beschloss is completely accurate, once you understand the meaning of THE CONQUERORS: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945. The key word in that title is not "conquerors"; very little attention is given to Bradley, Patton and the military efforts to defeat the Axis Powers. The focus of the book is not on the disposition of forces, the overall grand strategies, or the use of air power. Beschloss concentrates not on the destruction of German military might but on the destruction of the idea of Hitler's Germany. The conflict in THE CONQUERORS is intellectual rather than physical. It is not about the battle for Germany but the battle for the hearts and minds of postwar Germans. The challenge, as the Allied leaders saw it, was how to prevent another war and how to ensure that Germany could not and would not trouble the peace of the world again. THE CONQUERORS is primarily the story of the Morgenthau Plan, an ill-starred attempt by Roosevelt's Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, to impact American policy in postwar Germany. The plan involved the wholesale destruction of German manufacturing capacity and the immediate execution of Nazi leaders; opponents described it as "Carthaginian." Beschloss describes how Morgenthau, Roosevelt's closest Jewish friend, was influenced by early reports of the Holocaust and frustrated by his failure to convince FDR to take action to stop the grisly machinery of the concentration camps. Morgenthau is the primary character in the book; his private letters and papers are the main source of material for Beschloss. As a result, the focus of THE CONQUERORS is Morgenthau's experience, which primarily consists of bureaucratic infighting among the Treasury, State and War Departments, as well as the new Truman Administration. The result is a masterful work, yet it is a little dry for the casual reader. Moreover, Beschloss provides little in the way of second-guessing, preferring instead to let the story of the Morgenthau Plan explain itself. This allows the reader to see the problems of postwar Germany the way that Roosevelt and Truman saw them --- complete with asides about Roosevelt's boyhood vacations in Bavaria and Truman's reflexive anti-Semitism. However, aside from a brief introduction and conclusion, Beschloss provides little analysis of the mistakes, if any, that were made by Roosevelt, Truman and Morgenthau. Furthermore, Beschloss provides little or no detail about the crucial issue of how and why the Morgenthau Plan was dropped in favor of the more lenient (and ultimately more successful) Marshall Plan. THE CONQUERORS is a valuable book, if a little frustrating in spots. It sheds light on a period only dimly understood by most and it does a good service by putting Henry Morgenthau in the spotlight of history once more. While it may not be as meaty as a good rehash of the war in the European theater, it is still important and vital. --- Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds
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Summary: History with style!
Review: Michael Beschloss has not only added a great deal to the study of World War II and the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, he has given us a clear picture of how FDR and Truman laid the groundwork for America's victory in the Cold War. It seems that even though FDR has been raked over the coals for years for not taking a stronger stand against Stalin, he did in fact know what he was doing. This book shows just what FDR was up to in wonderfully interesting detail. Beschloss manages to draw the reader into the story almost as if it were a classic novel. He never assumes the reader will know all about Henry Morgenthau, Cordell Hull, or Henry Stimson. Instead he gives even the most novice reader of World War II material enough background to help explain their respective positions, both in relation to FDR and on policy. There are some very troubling things about FDR however that one learns in this book. It is fairly well known that he didn't keep Truman up to date on anything, but in this book one finds that no one seemed to know what FDR wanted or intended to do about almost everything. His ego seemed to tell him that he didn't really need anyone else, or even if he did, he wasn't going to let anyone but himself get the credit for any administration accomplishment. To keep everyone in line he played little games with people's minds and played one department head off against another. That in itself explains why he let Morgenthau run amuck for so long. Unfortunately, it also seems that FDR himself may not have known what he wanted to do with a defeated Germany and may have actually leaned toward Morgenthau's plan for a while. When one considers just how sick FDR was, and that he may have actually been considering turning the Presidency over to Truman, the mass chaos he fostered in his administration was really inexcusable. Most damaging of all to FDR's place in history is that it was he who refused to allow the bombing of the Nazi death camps. There were several in his administration who argued against the bombings using rather flimsy arguments. No matter whether FDR chose to accept any of those arguments, or just decided it was bad politics, it is a black mark in American history that will never go away. Truth be told, I can understand Morgenthau's frustration and desire to make Germany pay for her sins. Truman only comes into play toward the last of the book. Fortunately, the new President had a clear head and a keen mind, so that he was able to step into the mess he inherited. The fact that Henry Wallace or Jimmy Byrnes might well have been in Truman's place is indeed scary. Finally, there is a lot of new material in this book. As new records in the U.S., Britain, and Russia come open, many a new surprise may await us. Beschloss has already uncovered a few and in fact put off finishing this book until some files he needed were available to him. In short, there is a lot of new knowledge to be gained by reading this book, and there is also a slightly different spin on some already know facts. Well-written, well-researched, GREAT BOOK!
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Summary: why all the stuff about Morganthau??
Review: I'm just half-way through The Conquerors, but have already concluded that the title of the book and the photos on the cover are really misleading. So far, the book is totally focused on Henry Morganthau, not Roosevelt, Truman, or Churchill. Why? Maybe I'll find out in the second half, if I don't drop the book first. Morganthau's behavior, as described by Bechloss, is petty, obsessive, and if his plan for post-war Germany had been followed (I think I know enough about history to know that it wasn't) would have given Germany enough grievances to give birth to another Hitler and start WWIII. This is a great subject and there is a lot of interesting information here, but meanwhile page after page of Monganthau goes on...and on...and on.
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Summary: Beschloss Does It Again
Review: From the man who brought us books on the U2, Lyndon Johnson's tapes, the and the standoff between John F. Kennedy and the Soviet Union in the early 1960s comes one of the finest assessments of the execution of World War II yet published. What this book offers is a strong complement of the forces within both the Truman and Roosevelt administration who sought to impose their ideas and visions on a postwar world. The personality and policy battles between Morganthau and the remainder of the Administration is absolutely fascinating and, in some ways quite scarey. The book prompts flights of fancy imagining what the world would like today if competing interests at the end of World War II had been given their way. Perhaps one thing missing is why -- amid the vision of the senior leaders of the U.S. Government in prosecuting World War II -- such an abomination as the Morganthau Plan was allowed to be developed. Certainly our own history shows the devestating impact of a scortched earth policy on the stability of regions, yet Roosevelt never saw this clearly enough to stop Secretary Morgenthau early enough. One wonders why? This book, when read in concert with Thomas Fleming's "The New Dealer's War: FDR and the War Within World War II" makes an outstanding compendium into wartime thinking and strategy development. Both are excellent.
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Summary: Read it is a parable for the Iraqi war to come
Review: If we are going to war in Iraq, our leaders should read this book because it shows the strengths and deficits of fighting a major war against an authoritarian leader. Roosevelt's idea (against that of Stalin and Churchill) was to fight Hitler to total absolute victory, even if it meant that the war would take longer and require more deaths of Allied soldiers. Truman agreed. They also both comprehended that even if the war was won against Hitler, it wouldn't really be won in the end unless Germany was reconstructed into a democracy with American help. Therefore The Conquerors shows its readers both sides of the problem -- deciding what kind of war to fight and also deciding what you do with the country once it is conquered in the end. One measure of a fine book of history is the lessons it gives us about current events and by that and all other tests, The Conquerors hits a big home run. I recommend it highly and found it spectacular.
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