Rating: 
Summary: Morgenthau Plan
Review: "The Conquerors" by Michael Beschloss.
As so many of my fellow Amazon reviewers have noted, this book ought to be entitled, "The Morgenthau Plan". The celebrated Historian, Michael Beschloss, has produced a well-written volume documenting the in-fighting of the Roosevelt Administration on this plan for dealing with Germany after the war was won. The events after the cessation of hostilities show that the Morgenthau Plan was really implemented. Mr. Beschloss , as with so many American historians, has neglected, or at least, minimized reporting what happened to the eastern part of Germany. In the west, Allied bombing had destroyed most of the German industry, In the east, the Red Army did the same. Towards the end, Adolph Hitler issued orders to destroy everything in the path of the on-coming Soviets. Some fanatical German units did just that, while others ignored the Fuhrer's orders. Thus, in May 1945, Germany was fundamentally devoid of industry, with the only untouched areas being small farming towns and villages. The Soviets then forced Germans to leave East Prussia, Silesia and Pomerania, and, in turn, forced the Poles west to these now unoccupied lands. This has been called the greatest forced migration in history. Beschloss briefly mentions this on page 258, where he reports that Stalin "... insisted that giving German land to Poland should be no problem because no Germans were in the region." The result was a de facto implementation of the Morgenthau Plan: the reduction of Germany into an agricultural nation, struggling to feed its people. It seems that it was not until the 1949 Berlin Blockade and the subsequent Berlin Airlift that Americans, British and French began the re-vitalization of German industry and the re-birth of the German nation. Self-interest? Or Christianity and Kindness"? (p.105). One has to wonder if Stalin had been more subtle or more surreptitiously clever, if the Iron Curtain would have reached west to the Rhine and Germany would have disappeared. Five stars for excellent writing; three stars for addressing a different subject in a somewhat incomplete fashion: four stars average.
Rating: 
Summary: Disjointed, but informative
Review: "The Conquerors", author Michael Beschloss' account of how the Roosevelt and Truman administrations handled the execution of World War II and the decisions over how to handle postwar Germany, should be a better book than it is. It is not a bad book and, therefore, still worthy of a three-star rating, but it ultimately feels disjointed and rambling. There's an intangible piece to "The Conquerors" that seems to be missing. In the final chapter, when Beschloss summarizes the final decisions and events that took place in the aftermath of World War II, one can't help but think that these summaries don't seem to be relevant to the rest of the text in the book.
The bulk of "The Conquerors" focuses on the relationship between President Franklin Roosevelt and Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau. Morgenthau was a long time friend and confidant of the President from his pre-White House days. Morgenthau, though Jewish by heritage, was anything but an ardent Jew. During the era he grew up in, Jewish-ness was something to try and conceal or deny. Morgenthau did so by proclaiming himself to be "100% American". Yet, when word of the atrocities committed by Hitler's Nazi regime against the European Jews began to make its way around the world, that news, along with guilt and pressure applied by prominent American Jews, prompted Morgenthau to do an about-face and embrace his Jewish heritage and seek strong retribution against Germany for their actions. His "Morgenthau Plan" called for the destruction of all German industry, which would regress the country to an agrarian state where its existence would be dependent strictly on its farming ability. While many in the Roosevelt administration (Roosevelt included) favored harsh penalties against Germany, the "Morgenthau Plan" created an uproar and caused somewhat of an embarrassment to the administration. The administration had to consider the practicality of such a plan given the predicted struggle with Russia over German territory and also didn't want to seem to be kowtowing to issues important only to the Jewish population, which was still viewed as 'persona non grata' at the time.
"The Conquerors" also spends a great deal of time reveling in the political games that Roosevelt played within his own administration and forced to use with his other Big 3 allies, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin. He teamed with Stalin to goad Churchill into supporting stronger retribution against Germany, while he (and Truman) teamed with Churchill to plan ways to mute the Russian grab for land and influence in postwar Europe because they foresaw the potential chilling of relations with the Soviet Union. The political games are fascinating and they tie back into the furor over the Morgenthau plan on some level. However, the overall problem seems to be that there is no focus for all the disjointed anecdotes that Beschloss writes about. As mentioned earlier, the conclusions that Beschloss arrives at in his book seem to have very little to do with his previous narrative. While the information revealed throughout the book is intriguing, the overall quality is disappointing. Still, it is worth a look.
Rating:
Summary: Michael Beschloss at his best!
Review: As a presidential historian who regularly makes appearances on PBS and other network television, Michael Beschloss is certainly qualified to offer his perspective on the presidencies of FDR and Harry Truman. "The Conquerors" is easily readable as scholarly works go and the author has definitely established his research. The difficult dilemma of what to do with defeated Nazi Germany is discussed from the view of the decision makers. How did the two presidents arrive at their final conclusions? The book brings out the many factors that entered into the post-war policy making process, including the fear of another future war and the re-emergence of Nazi ideology. The book makes use of a plethora of primary sources, among them letters and correspondence that I believe are unveiled for the first time in this book. Readers are met with a deluge of information on Henry Morgenthau who played prominent role in the process. In summary, this is a highly intriguing read, not in the same league as "John Adams", but well worth the time and effort. Check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hit
Review: Creating government policy is not easy. Decisions result from consideration of many shifting factors and many different perspectives. Beschloss has written a superb account of the creation of one of the decisive US government policies of the 20th century--what to do with Hitler's Germany after WW II. The author traces the evolution of Roosevelt's thought, the intricate trail of policy input resulting from Roosevelt's chaotic management of his staff, the massive effort made by Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau to impose a harsh peace, the president's interplay with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, and the effects of FDR's flagging mental and physical abilities on eventual decisions. Beschloss also recounts Harry Truman's efforts to master large amounts of information about formal and informal agreements among the Big Three allies when he suddenly became president upon Roosevelt's death. The final chapter assesses the result of Roosevelt's and Truman's policies, concluding that their decisions to rebuild Germany as a strong pro-democracy bulwark in the heart of Europe affected the history of the Cold War, and indeed the contemporary world.
Rating:
Summary: Superb research, enlightening story...
Review: I don't have much new to add to these other well done reviews. This is very interesting and not often discussed period of history. The characters are vivid and Beschloss writes quite well. We learn about the incredible divisions in FDR's cabinet and you can't help but think of the Bush war cabinet. While not setting the world on fire, this book is a piece of excellent history. I would have liked more on Truman and his struggles in his early days, but overall the book is fair, interesting, and taught me many things.
Rating:
Summary: Difficult Decisions Proved to be Successful
Review: I have not read any of the other reviews because I didn't want to be influenced by someone else's thinking. I wanted to read the book because this is what was taking place in the world when I was an infant. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin having to decide what to do with post-war Germany as they met at Yalta. Truman, Churchill, and Stalin meeting at Postdam, Germany, to decide the same. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau wanting to punish Germany to an extent that would likely anger the Germans to the extent that the Treaty of Versailles following WWI led to the rise of Adolph Hitler. Had Roosevelt and Truman not insisted that Germany never again threaten the world, the country might be more dangerous today. Monuments to World War II Germans are found in Germany today, but not to Hitler or any of his cronies. The author brings out the personalities of Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Truman, and other members of Roosevelt's cabinet to illustrate their strengths, weaknesses, and insecurities. Roosevelt's controversial decision not to publicly acknowledge the Nazi murder of the Jews is debated. Perhaps, it is suggested, that Roosevelt wanted the world to feel the main issue in WWII was to win the war against Nazism, not to favor any special interest group. Also, because it may have prolonged the war since any bombing of the death camps would divert planes from other targets. Roosevelt must have assumed he would live through his fourth term since Truman was thrust into the presidency as a neophyte and had to hurridly learn on the job. He distinguished himself well. He had to make the controversial decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan which saved thousands of lives of American soldiers when Japan surrendered. A lot was going on when I came into this world and this book provided me with a greater insight of what was taking place.
Rating: 
Summary: not as good as I had hoped for or expected
Review: I was disappointed with this book which I thought had much more promise than I think was delivered. The writing was tedious from my perspective. Also, Truman, and his relationship with FDR and other world leaders in the first few months of his presidency is almost non existent as is, for the most part, Churchill's personal relationship with FDR, about which other books have been written but it seems to me is impossible to not include if the subject is the allied approach to the war. This is essentially a book about Morganthau and his relationship with FDR and FDR's approach to power. It shows how FDR had everyone in his administration wrapped around his little finger, which each subordinate thinking they alone had FDR's private ear, when in reality no one did. FDR kept his own counsel. The relationship between FDR and Morganthau comes off as a little pathetic with Morganthau desparate to get FDR's approval like an apprentice to a mentor. Roosevelt is supportive when it suits his fancy and non supportive when it does not suit his fancy. In that regard and among all participants "loyalty" is a relative concept in the FDR administration. Reminds me a little of the description of David McCullough about the Adams/Jefferson correspondence at the end of their lives--one in which Adams letters to Jefferson were like 4:1 compared to Jefferson's to Adams. I had the feeling that Adams needed this relationship much more than did Jefferson who had many other interests at the end of his life and appeared to answer Adams when he found the time. Adams, on the other hand, struck me as a fellow for whom a letter from TJ was the highpoint of his day.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I've ever read on World War II
Review: I've read many books on World War II and the era of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman and I've never had as wrenching and exciting a history reading time as I had from reading The Conquerors.
The Conquerors begins with an assassination plot that almost worked against Adolph Hitler and tells that British secret conspirators working for Winston S. Churchill were trying to do the same thing (which I didn't know).
The author tells that Franklin D. Roosevelt at the time was thinking of castrating Germans and turning Germany after World War II was won by the British and Americans and Russians into "scorched earth."
This was amazing because Roosevelt was also not doing very much about the Holocaust, despite that many Jews and others had asked him to try to help Jewish refugees into the United States and to ask the Pentagon to see "what might be done" to help stop the murder of the Jews in Europe.
Also F.D.R. was in terrible physical shape and was thinking of quitting being President and going to the U.N. Interestingly enough, Eleanor Roosevelt did not intercede to try to stop the murder of Jews, which surprised me a lot.
In the end, Harry S. Truman becomes President and despite his anti-Semitic remarks against Jews, he decides that the best way to make sure that there won'ty be any more Holocausts or world wars from Germany will be to punish those Nazis and try to get the Germans to be like us Americans.
It's probably a very good lesson for all of us as President George W. Bush thinks of bringing the United States into a war against Iraq.
In this way, The Conquerors is history but it also tells us something about the times that we live in. I couldn't forget the characters in this book and it seemed like I was living through a theater play.
I wish more historians wrote their books this way because not only do you learn a lot but also it is like watching a film or an exciting TV show.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading - falls little short in some areas....
Review: Outside of a very misleading title, this book proves to be an indepth study on the conception, consideration and ultimate rejection of Morgenthau Plan. The plan was considered very controversial because it called for Germany to be stripped of all industries and reduced to an agricultural state. In hindsight of course, the plan can be considered to vastly short sighted and un-American in nature, almost guranteeing a very vengeful Germany somewhere in the future. But during the latter part of the World War II, Morgenthau Plan had its supporters and it was considered as a serious plan. This book proves to be one of the few books that actually looked behind the Morgenthau Plan. It also take a good look at Franklin Roosevelt's declining ablity to lead our nation in the time of war and how he ignored the destruction of the Jews in Europe. I think I read this in one of the earlier reveiws but I also wish that there was a section on how our nation went from something like a Morgenthau Plan to the Marshall Plan. Story of that transformation would have been a good addition to the book.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: Roy Jenkins, in his biography of Churchill, characterized the Morgenthau Plan as a "fairly crack-brained plan." It hardly seems worth all the research and effort to write a book in which the central figure is Henry Morgenthau, Jr. and the central matter is his plan to make post-war Germany into an agrarian country. It turned out to be full of sound and fury, but signified nothing. Readers of Margaret MacMillan's "Paris 1919" will have some idea of the background for the resurgence of Germany militancy and, probably, the problems arising out of the fact that World War I was not "taken to the Germans." The idea of requiring unconditional surrender was thus a good one. The issue of the holocaust was certainly a great influence on most of the allied participants (although probably not Stalin), but the real story here was not the debate about the Morgenthau Plan, it was the story on the ground as World War II was ending and thereafter, and that story was told only in a brief last chapter. It may sell more books to purport to deal with the activities of Roosevelt and Truman, and Michael Beschloss obviously enjoyed exposing the faults of each of them, but ultimately the story told was tangential to the real one, and was not worth the time spent to read it.
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