Rating: 
Summary: a must read for all lovers of history
Review: i borrowed this book from my local library and i knew that by the end of the first chapter i would run out and buy it for my library. one of those books so filled with gems that you will return to it again and again. no matter how much you know or think you knew about espionage in world war II you will be surprised by some of the incredible revelations in this very enjoyable book . roosevelt was truly a master politician and every american should read this book to see how lucky our nation was to have this man as our leader. can you imagine if roosevelt would have died in say 1939 or 38? the president would have been henrey wallace! whew!
Rating:
Summary: Top-notch
Review: I read his book and i would highly recomend everyone who served in WW2,not those who served in high places but the average serviceman,be he GI,grunt,airman,sailor,etc.this will give you an idea what went on inside the beltway when you were asked to put it all on the line.I'm not going on about how the intelligence system worked,there are many many books on that subject already.I'm interested on how many intellectuals,FDRs kind of people who were close to the president were selling us down the river.Why is it people with thier expensive educations fell for that communist line.I know most of the average American didn't,was it because we didn't have those high class educations but kept our common sense? Maybe it was are street smarts when we heard a line of BS we knew it.The idea of injecting Hitlers food with female hormones so his voice would change and his mustache would fall out,almost reminds us how the CIA was going to poison Castro with poisoned cigars,things never seem to change inside the beltway.I was sorry to see how our"best and brightest"headed for all the soft jobs when they were needed so badly for thier leader ship in the infantry.some did serve well in the ground forces but only a small percentage,you saw the same thing in Nam.This is a top rated book in my estimation because of the darker side it also shows.
Rating: 
Summary: Roosevelt's Secret Wat
Review: I was very dissappointed with this book. It really did not address the issue of Espionage on Roosevelt's part. It was more oriented towards espionage going on around him
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ FOR ALL AMERICANS!
Review: Joe Persico has discovered what many of us World War Two historians never knew: Franklin Delano Roosevelt PERSONALLY ran the war against Hitler and his state sponsored terrorism! Many of the details in this book I was aware of, but what I did not know was FDR's intense and intellectual direction of the war and all of its participants to include Churchill.
The only error I found here was Persico's declaration that the US breaking of the JN 25 Japanese Naval codes was never discovered. Fact is that when the German Raider Thor intercepted the Australian cargo/passenger ship the SS Nakin, the Germans captured several mail sacks with secret documents reveling the fact the we had broken the Japanese codes on 10 May 1942. The Germans did not tell the Japanese until 29 August of that year, which allowed us to win the Battle of Midway. However, the Japanese changed their codes and we did not re-break them until 5 May 1943. Because of this fact we sustained serious naval losses during the naval battles off Guadalcanal.
For those of you who are not students of intelligence matters concerning the WW-II, I suggest you buy "Encyclopedia of the Second World War" by Bryan Perrett & Ian Hogg as a reference when you are reading Persico's book! Another work I recommend is: "The Encyclopedia of Espionage" by Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen (which contains a number of details of George Washington's intelligence network that won the Revolutionary War!
There has only been one other person in American history that did what FDR did: George Washington, whose statue is in the entrance of the Headquarters of the CIA. I think they might consider putting FDR's Statue there as well: AFTER ALL HE DID SAVE WESTERN CIVILIZATION. This book is a MUST READ for all Americans!
Rating: 
Summary: "Fly on the Wall" History of Amazing Time
Review: Joseph Perisco's entertaining history of FDR and the birth of the American intelligence infrastructure is a must-read for any fan of WWII history or presidential history. Adopting almost a Bob Woodward fly-on-the-wall style, Perisco combines incredible research with an eye for the intriguing detail to tell an amazing story. For younger Americans who have always lived in a world where the CIA/FBI/Pentagon/Other Sinister Government Agency combo was the top secret snatcher and spy grabber, it will be hugely entertaining to learn about how recently the American intelligence network was virtually non-existent. Can it be true that a guiding principle of intelligence was "A gentleman does not read another gentleman's mail"?!?! Astoundingly, yes. Perisco's thesis, that FDR was perfectly suited for the birth of this network, is ably supported by Perisco's research and a bit of arm-chair psychoanalysis. To Perisco, FDR was a titanic personality at a time when giants strode the earth -- Stalin, Churchill, even "Wild Bill" Donovan, an American intelligence agent with his own agenda and the energy of fifteen men. FDR, restricted in the use of his body, used an astoundingly sharp mind and a practical streak a mile wide to bring about the creation of the American intelligence network while guiding America through the precarious pre-war years. Perisco is a hugely entertaining writer, and while "RSW" is a dense book, it is very readable. The only problem this book has is that, for all its readability and research, it has taken on a massive subject and one is always left with the impression that there must have been more to it than Perisco lets on. While not quite crossing over into hero-worship in its near-veneration of FDR, one suspects that a few different stories may be told about this era and this subject, and they would be somewhat different than Perisco's. Perhaps my favorite section of the book is Perisco's pointed response to the allegations that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor in advance. By using a combination of historical evidence as well as his fundamental understanding of FDR, Perisco convincingly debunks this theory. Through it all, FDR comes across as a very human, if very talented, figure, and Perisco's description of FDR's sudden decline would justify the entire book by itself -- fortunately, it doesn't have to.
Rating:
Summary: "Fly on the Wall" History of Amazing Time
Review: Joseph Perisco's entertaining history of FDR and the birth of the American intelligence infrastructure is a must-read for any fan of WWII history or presidential history. Adopting almost a Bob Woodward fly-on-the-wall style, Perisco combines incredible research with an eye for the intriguing detail to tell an amazing story. For younger Americans who have always lived in a world where the CIA/FBI/Pentagon/Other Sinister Government Agency combo was the top secret snatcher and spy grabber, it will be hugely entertaining to learn about how recently the American intelligence network was virtually non-existent. Can it be true that a guiding principle of intelligence was "A gentleman does not read another gentleman's mail"?!?! Astoundingly, yes. Perisco's thesis, that FDR was perfectly suited for the birth of this network, is ably supported by Perisco's research and a bit of arm-chair psychoanalysis. To Perisco, FDR was a titanic personality at a time when giants strode the earth -- Stalin, Churchill, even "Wild Bill" Donovan, an American intelligence agent with his own agenda and the energy of fifteen men. FDR, restricted in the use of his body, used an astoundingly sharp mind and a practical streak a mile wide to bring about the creation of the American intelligence network while guiding America through the precarious pre-war years. Perisco is a hugely entertaining writer, and while "RSW" is a dense book, it is very readable. The only problem this book has is that, for all its readability and research, it has taken on a massive subject and one is always left with the impression that there must have been more to it than Perisco lets on. While not quite crossing over into hero-worship in its near-veneration of FDR, one suspects that a few different stories may be told about this era and this subject, and they would be somewhat different than Perisco's. Perhaps my favorite section of the book is Perisco's pointed response to the allegations that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor in advance. By using a combination of historical evidence as well as his fundamental understanding of FDR, Perisco convincingly debunks this theory. Through it all, FDR comes across as a very human, if very talented, figure, and Perisco's description of FDR's sudden decline would justify the entire book by itself -- fortunately, it doesn't have to.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome achievement
Review: Sometimes a work of history is so thoroughly researched, so rich in detail, so comprehensive and so lucidly presented as to be considered art.
Such is Joseph Perisco's, "Roosevelt's Secret War." For anyone interested in FDR, World War II or wartime espionage this book is a must.
Perisco is an unabashed fan of FDR. Some readers will doubtless take issue with the author's interpretations of a few of the more controversial aspects of the war as handled by FDR. But while generally lauding Roosevelt, Perisco always gives voice to the president's critics. Perisco is most forceful in his refuting the claims that FDR had foreknowledge of the Pearl Harbor attacks successfully attacking both the reasoning and assertions of revisionists.
One tends to be persuaded by Perisco simply because he brings so much information to his arguments.
The author also fleshes out all manner of other significant supporting players. The scandalized Sumner Welles, pal Vincent Astor, ally Winston Churchill, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, controversial OSS director Bill Donovan to name but a few.
One of Perisco's greatest achievements is to present all the incidents, events and characters (replete with anecdotes) in all their complexity in such an entertaining read. Indeed therein may lay the secret: all the complexity, the maneuvering, the machinations are spiced by the entertaining characters who carried them out, whether dashing or bumbling whether through ingenuity or sheer luck.
Most of all this is the story of an extraordinary man who found himself president of a country during its worse economic/social crisis and the world's biggest war. Perisco reveals everything from how "that man" (as he was sometimes called) handled foreign heads of states to what he liked for breakfast.
FDR was intrigued by espionage and the attendant spies and secrets but his uses and interests in this area quickly changed from a hobby played at with Astor, to an operational necessity worked at with Donovan.
This book gives much for historians and the casual reader to contemplate and debate. This includes such issues as what FDR knew and could have done about the Holocaust; the Japanese internment; FDR-Stalin relations and dealings and how they might have contributed to the Cold War.
But there can be no debate about this: "Roosevelt's Secret War" will enhance any readers knowledge of FDR and broaden their understanding of the United States in World War II. Also unarguable is that this is a fascinating, entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: FDR: I, Spy
Review: The account of our war President taking on the mantle of spy chief, is not too surprising for those who read and educate themselves about him. In the heat of global turmoil, the heat of survival for democracy, FDR saw the advantage spies and their spygames presented. Being the astute Commander In Chief he was, he utilized that potential as best as he could for Allied Victory. In my opinion this is just more evidence of his heart and soul's desire to see the American people (and consequently ALL free people) survive the madness of the Nazis. His activities ranged from having rich friends spy for him, to conspiring with Britain well before the United States' entry into the war in 1941. He started what now we know today as the CIA: all during a time when his administration was unknowingly riddled with Red Communists from Mother Russia. But it wasn't all war business: In FDR like fashion, he had a tendency to wield his power for personal purposes. Before the streamlinging/defining of the various intelligence departments, he was getting reports of Eleanor's supposed infidelity from the Office of the Navy, and Hoover's FBI: even then he was firmly ensconced as Washington's unofficial watchdog, and it was well known there was no love lost between himself and the first lady. Mr. Persico adds another dimension to the FDR presidency, and the war administration he conducted. World War II in most ways was when the government we know today was forged. Intelligence ranks among those foundations, and can also be laid at the feet of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Add this to your library, its a must have.
Rating:
Summary: "Magic"
Review: Well not being much of a history buff, I read this just the same and learned a great deal about Roosevelt. His actions led to many break throughs which are still being highly used by goverment departments today. I found the book went into more than just the spy games, but also into who hates who. I would say its like a soap opera but with a historic twist. I strongly feel that the book is well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Would give it ten stars if I could.
Review: What a read! This book has it all over even the most well crafted spy thriller. Intrigue, Spy rings, Spy masters, Intelligence blunders and break throughs. Nonfiction should always be this fun to read.
In "Roosevelts Secret War", we are given insight into a crucial time in American history. Mr. Persico has shown all angles of a diverse and complicated situation. The country is strongly isolationist, the Nazi regime is slowly crushing Europe under its boot heel, and Britain is tied up in skulldugery, decreasing moral and a war that is looking more bleak by the day.
This is the maelstrom FDR is thrust into. The States lag behind The U.K. in terms of intelligence capabilities and world view. Churchill informs FDR of the realities of the war, and thus the U.S. has its die cast. Mr.Persico sends us on a journey of burgeoning intelligence offices, agency squabbling, jealous department heads, code breaking, conspirices and much more.
During this ride the author debunks long bandied rumors, such as the supposed prior knowledge FDR had of the Pearl Harbor tragedy. The answer is surprisingly complicated. Hindsight offers a pretty clear view of a pending attack, yet all the intel that pointed towards that travesty was divested in so many small nuggets, bungled through many channels and ciphers, that not even a room of Nobel winners in physics could have pieced together an obvious plot.
FDR is shown as a very shrewd, intelligent and devious man. Though generally moral, he will bend rules, cast aides against one another and down right lie if the greater good will be advanced by his many prevarications. Churchill is of a similar character, and the two spark up a healthy working partnership. The book is peppered with so many gold nuggets, that a list of all its finds would be to long to list here.
Rich, complex and very well crafted, this may be the best work of Nonfiction published this year.
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