War and Peace

Unless you are an Anglophobe, I would not recommend you read Mr. Hamiltons War and Peace, the third volume in his Roosevelt trilogy. Along with its pretentious title I have found much to be disappointed about in what is more a one-sided indictment of World War II British political and military leadership than a biography of Franklin Roosevelts final years as Commander-in-Chief. In his description of their reluctance to embrace a Spring 1944 cross channel invasion of German occupied France, Mr. Hamilton completely ignores the very legitimate concerns of Churchill and his British military staff (principally Field Marshall Brooke), that the invasion might fail and their countrys overstretched army would be bled white on the French coast. He even goes so far as to suggest that it was cowardice that may have motivated them, a patently absurd accusation that any student of World War II history, at all familiar with these two mens life story, would find laughable if not scurrilous! It seems clear that Mr. Hamilton has a significant bias against his homelands World War II heroes that the facts, as I understand them, do not support.
Additionally, Mr. Hamilton often resorts to describing how FDR felt about things with no sourcing or explanation of how he was able to divine the thoughts and feelings of this notoriously enigmatic man. If you able to overlook the many distortions and the authors apparent historical mind reading, you may find the story of the Presidents rapidly failing health and the elaborate cover-up his doctors, political advisors, family and associates engaged in during the run up to the 1944 election – it is true.

As one who has read the previous two volumes in the trilogy about FDR at War by the eminent British historian/biographer Dr. Nigel Hamilton I turned to this book with interest. I have read Hamilton for decades through his Bernard Montgomery, JFK and Bill Clinton biographies. He is an excellent historian and a writer whose books read well. This tome is divided into short chapters and includes period photos and extensive bibliographic material.
The first part of the book looks at the strategic decisions which found FDR and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at loggerheads. FDR and the Americans wanted to launch a Western front assault on Hitler’s Fortress Europe in the Spring of 1944; Churchill wanted the main effort against the Nazis to be launched in the Balkans, Greece, Italy which was deemed the Soft Belly of Europe. The Americans and FDR prevailed with D-Day on June 6, 1944 a rousing success. FDR was a dying man due to congestive heart failure and other ailments. Nevertheless, the American Ulysses traveled to distant locales such as Cairo, Tehran and Yalta to meet with Stalin and Churchill. Churchill lovers will not be happy with Englishman Hamilton who favors the American strategy for victory rather than that of Churchill and the Brits. The book contains good information on the selection of Dwight Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander while General George Marshall remained chief of staff in Washington D.C. Also revealing were the complicated negotiations held at Yalta. FDR’s dream of a United Nations came about despite initial British and Russian hesitation. The development of the Atomic Bomb is also covered.
The print is small for these baby boomer eyes but this is history writing at its best. Recommended!

This is the final book in Nigel Hamiltons FDR trilogy. As others have mentioned, Hamilton is writing from the American perspective. He seeks to rebalance accounts from Churchills memoirs and I found this fascinating to read. In prior volumes, Hamilton has quoted primary sources (state papers, letters, etc.) at length. While he still is deep in the official archives, following FDRs declining health you can see the contracting world FDR inhabits. Fewer official papers and we see more personal accounts. I think Hamilton also deserves great credit for rendering the increasingly sharper focus FDR had on the specific goals (the UN) he wanted to accomplish.

Ive read a number of books about FDRs last year. Im not sure any of them succeeded as well as this in portraying exactly how sick Roosevelt was. Hamiltons narrative choice – short, focused chapters were great to read.

I have read the two previous books by this author, and always felt that he was preaching to the choir when he was telling me that FDR was a great man.
For the life of me, I wish someone would tell this author that you do not need to turn the dogs out on WSC, who seems to be the nemesis of FDR.
WSC was certainly flawed, but brilliant.
I think this book is too biased and would not recommend it.

Nigel Hamilton’s FDR trilogy is a fresh look at WWII and FDR’s strategic vision. The third volume reads like a beach novel, with a fascinating look at Roosevelt’s health issues and love affair with Lucy Mercer Rutherford. FDR may not have been as brilliant and Hamilton suggests, nor Churchill as foolish, but the books contribute to our understanding of the Olympian decision-making in WWII.

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