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Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Lynne Olson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 3,678 ratings

Editors' pick Best History

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“Engaging and original, rich in anecdote and analysis, this is a terrific work of history.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion

The acclaimed author of Troublesome Young Men reveals the behind-the-scenes story of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, the handsome, chain-smoking head of CBS News in Europe; Averell Harriman, the hard-driving millionaire who ran FDR’s Lend-Lease program in London; and John Gilbert Winant, the shy, idealistic U.S. ambassador to Britain. Each man formed close ties with Winston Churchill—so much so that all became romantically involved with members of the prime minister’s family. Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Lynne Olson skillfully depicts the dramatic personal journeys of these men who, determined to save Britain from Hitler, helped convince a cautious Franklin Roosevelt and reluctant American public to back the British at a critical time. Deeply human, brilliantly researched, and beautifully written, Citizens of London is a new triumph from an author swiftly becoming one of the finest in her field.

Praise for Citizens of London

“Brilliantly bursting with beautiful prose, Olson flutters our hearts by capturing the essence of the public and private lives of those who faced death, touched the precipice, hung on by their eyelids, and saved the free world from destruction by the forces of evil.”—Bill Gardner, New Hampshire Secretary of State

“If you don't think there's any more to learn about the power struggles, rivalries and dramas—both personal and political—about the US-British aliance in the World War II years, this book will change your mind—and keep you turning the pages as well.”—Jeff Greenfield, Senior Political Correspondent, CBS News

“Three fascinating Americans living in London helped cement the World War II alliance between Roosevelt and Churchill. Lynne Olson brings us the wonderful saga of Harriman, Murrow, and Winant. A triumph of research and storytelling, Citizens of London is history on an intimate level.”—Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein

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978-1400067589
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1st
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Random House
Publication date

January 28, 2010
Language

English
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2010: Citizens of London is the story of the American firebrands who broke rank with popular opinion and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with England during the bleak infancy of World War II. Author Lynne Olson more than lives up to the critical acclaim of her last book, Troublesome Young Men, by exploring the origins of an Anglo-American alliance that helped turn the tide during the most widespread conflict in history. Although other "Yanks" rallied against the hesitancy of their isolationist government before Pearl Harbor, few matched the impact of U.S. ambassador John Gilbert Winant, businessman Averell Harriman, and broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. Each recognized the insidious dangers of Nazi aggression, and with the help of meticulous research, Olson elucidates the challenges they endured to help bridge political and cultural gaps between the United States and Britain. At a time when the English capital was described as "swimming in the full tide of history," Citizens of London echoes Tennyson in its tribute to those who strove, sought, and refused to yield. --Dave Callanan

Exclusive Q&A with Lynne Olson

Amazon.com: Your last three books (Citizens of London, Troublesome Young Men, and A Question of Honor) have focused on England during the late 1930's/early 1940's. As a historian, what draws you to this period?

Olson: I’ve been fascinated with the place and the period ever since my husband, Stan Cloud, and I wrote our first book, The Murrow Boys, about Edward R. Murrow and the correspondents he hired to create CBS News before and during World War II. Several scenes in the book take place in London during the Battle of Britain and the 1940-41 Blitz. In doing research for The Murrow Boys, I got caught up in the story of Britain’s struggle for survival in those early years of the war – and the extraordinary leadership of Winston Churchill and courage of ordinary Britons in waging that fight. I discovered that there were still a number of stories about the period that remained largely unknown and untold, so I decided to tell them myself.

Amazon.com: Had Pearl Harbor not forced America's hand, how much longer could England have lasted against Germany?

Olson: That’s an excellent “what if” question. Churchill, for one, was desperately worried that Britain would be defeated by Germany in 1942 if the United States didn’t enter the war. In the days immediately before Pearl Harbor, he knew that the Japanese were also on the move, and he was afraid they were going to strike at British territory in Asia. If that had happened, his country would have been forced into a two-front war, with no lifeline from the United States – which almost assuredly would have meant the end for Britain. So it’s no wonder than when he heard the news of Pearl Harbor on the night of Dec. 7, 1941, he was euphoric. It meant, as he later wrote, that no matter how many military setbacks lay ahead, “England would live.”

Amazon.com: In contrast to Winant and Murrow, Harriman was a bit of a bourgeois playboy. What made you include him in this book?

Olson: There’s no question that Harriman’s social life was considerably more hectic in London than that of Winant and Murrow. At the same time, however, he was a dogged, extremely hard-working administrator of Lend Lease aid for Britain, who did what he could to speed up the flow of American help to the British and who pressed the Roosevelt administration hard for more vigorous action and more direct involvement in the war. He also carved out for himself quite an influential role as conduit and buffer between Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill.

I also wanted to include Harriman for another reason – to point up the contrast between his tough-minded pragmatism and the idealism of Winant and Murrow. These three men, I think, reflected the complexity of America and its attitude to the rest of the world at that time. Winant and Murrow, who championed economic and social reform as well as international cooperation, reflected America’s idealistic side. Harriman, who was intent on broadening his own power and influence, as well as that of his country, became an exemplar of U.S. exceptionalism. In the postwar era, it was his world view that, for the most part, dominated American foreign policy.

Amazon.com: You note an almost apathetic Churchill response to American dalliances within his family. Was this a diplomatic necessity or was he simply too focused on the larger picture?

Olson: I’m not sure I would call him “apathetic.” I think that “pragmatic” would be a better word. I should also point out that it’s not an absolute certainty he knew about the affair that occurred between Averell Harriman and Pamela Churchill, the wife of his son, Randolph, which began in 1941. When Randolph later accused his father of condoning adultery under his own roof, Churchill denied any knowledge of what was going on. That being said, I do believe, as did Pamela, that he was aware of what she and Harriman were up to. Churchill loved Randolph, and while I’m sure he was not thrilled about the Pamela/Harriman affair, he knew how important Harriman and the other Americans were to the survival of Britain, and he had no intention of letting personal matters interfere with the national interest. Besides, Pamela proved to be a useful conduit for him and Harriman, passing on to each man information and insights she had found out from the other.

When Pamela took up with Edward R. Murrow later in the war, she was already separated from Randolph, and I doubt that Churchill cared one way or the other. As for the affair between his daughter, Sarah, and John Gilbert Winant, the couple kept their involvement exceptionally discreet. Sarah believed her father knew about it, but he never said anything, and I don’t think he would have minded.

Amazon.com: Talk about the lower-profile "Citizens of London" -- the brave Americans who violated their own country's laws to volunteer for the RAF.

Olson: In the late 1930s, as part of its desperate effort to keep the United States out of war, the American government did, as you note, make it illegal for any U.S. citizen to join the military service of a warring power. But, after Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, thousands of young Americans disregarded that law and traveled to England to join the British or Canadian armed forces. Unlike the hordes of Yanks who descended on Britain just prior to D-Day, the early U.S. volunteers became an integral part of Britain’s military and society.

The best-known volunteers were those who joined the Royal Air Force. Seven U.S. citizens were counted among “The Few” – the celebrated band of RAF pilots who, in their Hurricanes and Spitfires, successfully beat back the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain in the summer and fall of 1940. Over the next several months, an additional 300-plus Americans enlisted in the RAF -- so many that they were soon given their own units, called the Eagle Squadrons. Churchill, who instantly saw what a powerful propaganda tool the American squadrons could be, enthusiastically endorsed the idea.

When the U.S. finally entered the conflict, virtually all the Americans serving in the RAF transferred to the U.S Army Air Forces. Of the 244 pilots who flew in the Eagle Squadrons, more than 40 per cent did not survive the war.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The Anglo-American alliance in WWII was not inevitable, writes former Baltimore Sun correspondent Olson (Troublesome Young Men). In this ingenious history, he emphasizes the role of three prominent Americans living in London who helped bring it about. Best known was Edward R. Murrow, head of CBS radio's European bureau after 1937. His pioneering live broadcasts during the blitz made him a celebrity, and Olson portrays a man who worked tirelessly to win American support for Britain. Most admirable of the three was John Winant, appointed American ambassador in 1941. A true humanitarian, he skillfully helped craft the British-American alliance. And most amusing was Averell Harriman, beginning a long public service career. In 1941, FDR sent the wealthy, ambitious playboy to London to oversee Lend-Lease aid. He loved the job, but made no personal sacrifices, living a luxurious life as he hobnobbed with world leaders and carried on an affair with Churchill's daughter-in-law. Olson, an insightful historian, contrasts the idealism of Winant and Murrow with the pragmatism of Harriman. But all three men were colorful, larger-than-life figures, and Olson's absorbing narrative does them justice. 16 pages of b&w photos. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Given our common bonds of language and heritage, many assume that the special relationship between the U.S. and Britain has been both long lasting and inevitable. Olson, former White House correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, shows how this relationship was artfully and painfully constructed during World War II, particularly from 1940 to 1941, when Britain stood alone against a triumphant Germany. Many Americans living in Britain, led by Ambassador Joseph Kennedy, viewed Britain as whipped and urged the Roosevelt administration to seek accommodation with Hitler. Fortunately, a relatively small but highly influential group of Americans worked tirelessly to influence government policy. Olson tells their story largely through the prism of the wartime experiences and activities of three men: John Winant, who replaced Kennedy as ambassador and quickly endeared himself to ordinary British citizens with his common touch; Averell Harriman, instrumental in the administration of the U.S. military and to Britain; and Edward R. Murrow, who stirred up sympathy for the British cause in his radio broadcasts to the U.S. during the Blitz. An excellent and revealing chronicle. --Jay Freeman

Review

“Citizens of London is a great read about the small band of Americans and their courageous role in helping Britain through the darkest days of early World War II. I thought I knew a lot about that dangerous period but Lynne Olson has taught me so much more.”—Tom Brokaw

“In this engaging and original book, Lynne Olson tells the story of the Americans who did the New World credit by giving their all to help Churchill's Britain hold on against Hitler. Rich in anecdote and analysis, this is a terrific work of history.”—Jon Meacham, author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

“Like any good history book, this is a reminder: a reminder of how some Americans came to London and rallied to Britain's cause in 1940 and 1941—that is before Pearl Harbor, when Hitler's Germany came very close to winning the Second World War. Citizens of London is really two books in one: a detailed record of what an American ambassador (John Gilbert Winant), a Roosevelt appointee (Averell Harriman) and American broadcaster (Edward R. Murrow) did for the British—and, yes, also for the American—cause. At the same time, it is a detailed account of American/British relations through the War, another tale that is not simple.”—John Lukacs, author of Five Days in London: May 1940

“Citizens of London is a stirring portrait of brave England in its finest hour. At its exciting center are the Americans who became England's true friends as it fought for survival against Hitler's Luftwaffe. Here is Edward R. Murrow reporting on the Blitz as the bombs dropped and city burned about him. You'll meet the young, gutsy American pilots of the Eagle Squadron who broke their country's law to serve with the RAF. Then, nearest to London's heart, you'll discover the noble US Ambassador Gilbert Winant who brought to fighting England all the fineness and generosity his country could spar and more. Lynne Olson has produced a deeply inspiring chronicle of the special relationship when it mattered most. She's turned out a truly grand companion to Jon Meacham's majestic Franklin and Winston.”—Chris Matthews, Anchor, MSNBC's Hardball

“This is history at its most personal and compelling, a group portrait of three fascinating individuals—Winant, Harriman, and Murrow—whose lives intersected at a pivotal moment in the twentieth century, when the fates of America and Britain were interlocked. The result is what the English call ‘a rollicking read.’”—Strobe Talbott, author of The Great Experiment

“It doesn’t seem possible that support for Britain against the Nazis was so unpopular in America before December of 1941. In Citizens of London, Lynne Olson tells the stories of Britain’s few American champions—men who ended up on the right side of history. Her book brings alive this crucial time of our country’s recent past, and shows us how a few leaders can make such a big difference.”—Bob Edwards, radio commentator and author of Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism

About the Author

Arthur Morey has recorded over two hundred audiobooks in history, fiction, science, business, and religion, earning a number of AudioFile Earphones Awards and two Audie Award nominations. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.

Before Lynne Olson began writing books full-time, she worked more than ten years as a journalist. She has written several books of history, including the New York Times bestsellers Those Angry Days and Citizens of London.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter One

“THERE’S NO PLACE I’D RATHER BE THAN IN ENGLAND”

At the railway station in windsor, a slight, slender man in the khaki uniform of a British field marshal waited patiently as a train pulled in and, with a screech of its brakes, shuddered to a stop. A moment later, the lacquered door of one of the coaches swung open, and the new American ambassador to Britain stepped out. With a broad smile, George VI extended his hand to John Gilbert Winant. “I am glad to welcome you here,” he said.

With that simple gesture, the forty-five-year-old king made history. Never before had a British monarch abandoned royal protocol and ventured outside his palace to greet a newly arrived foreign envoy. Until the meeting at Windsor station, a new ambassador to Britain was expected to follow a minutely detailed ritual in presenting his credentials to the Court of St. James. Attired in elaborate court dress, he was taken in an ornate carriage, complete with coachman, footmen, and outriders, to Buckingham Palace in London. There he was received by the king in a private ceremony, usually held weeks after his arrival in the country.

But, on this blustery afternoon in March 1941, there was to be no such pomp or pageantry. As a throng of British and American reporters looked on, the king engaged the bareheaded Winant, wearing a rumpled navy blue overcoat and clutching a gray felt hat, in a brief, animated conversation. Then George VI led the ambassador to a waiting car for the drive to Windsor Castle and tea with the queen, followed by a ninety-minute meeting between the two men.

With the survival of Britain dangling by a thread, the king’s unprecedented gesture made clear that traditional court niceties were to be set aside, at least for the duration of the war. But more significantly, he was underscoring his country’s desperate need for U.S. assistance, along with its hope that Winant, unlike his defeatist-minded predecessor, Joseph P. Kennedy, would persuade his government that such aid was vital now.

Kennedy, a former Wall Street speculator and ex-chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, had closely aligned himself with the appeasement policies of the previous prime minister, Neville Chamberlain. During his three years in London, he had made no secret of his belief that “wars were bad for business, and what was worse, for his business,” as journalist James “Scotty” Reston put it. The U.S. ambassador believed this so firmly that he even used his official position to commandeer scarce cargo space on transatlantic ships for his own liquor export business. After Chamberlain and the French prime minister handed over much of Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler at Munich in September 1938, Kennedy remarked happily to Jan Masaryk, the Czechoslovak minister to Britain: “Isn’t it wonderful [that the crisis is over]? Now I can get to Palm Beach after all!”

In October 1940, at the height of German bombing raids on London and other parts of Britain, he returned home for good, declaring that “England is gone” and “I’m for appeasement one thousand per cent.” After meeting with President Roosevelt at the White House, he told reporters that he would “devote my efforts to what seems to me to be the greatest cause in the world today . . . to help the president keep the United States out of war.”

Kennedy’s outspoken desire to come to terms with Hitler had made his successor’s task all the more ticklish. Winant’s mission was, according to the New York Times, “one of the toughest and biggest jobs the President can give. He has to explain to a country that is daily being bombed why a country, safely 3,000 miles away . . . wants to help but will not fight. That is a difficult thing to tell a person whose home has just been wrecked by a bomb.”

On the morning of March 1, shortly after the Senate approved his nomination, the fifty-one-year-old Winant arrived at an airfield near the southern port of Bristol, which had suffered a severe battering by the Luftwaffe just a few weeks earlier. Before being whisked off to a special royal train for his journey to Windsor, the new ambassador wasted no time in demonstrating that he was not Joe Kennedy. Asked by a BBC reporter to say a few words to the British people, he paused a moment, then said quietly into the microphone, “I’m very glad to be here. There is no place I’d rather be at this time than in England.”

The following day, his remark was on the front pages of most British newspapers. The Times of London, evidently considering the remark a good omen, waxed uncharacteristically poetic when it reported that a “significant incident” had occurred just before the ambassador’s arrival. “As his aeroplane was circling to land,” the Times told its readers, “the sky was overcast and there came a sudden torrential downpour of rain. But as the aircraft came gently to earth, the storm ceased as suddenly as it had begun and the sun burst through the clouds, accompanied by a brilliant rainbow.”

Unfortunately for Britain, there were precious few rainbows on the horizon in early 1941. After nine months of standing alone against the mightiest military power in the world, the country—financially, emotionally, and physically exhausted—faced a predicament that was “not only extreme,” in the words of historian John Keegan, “but unprecedented in its extremity.”

Although Germany had failed to subdue the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain in the summer and autumn of 1940, the Luftwaffe continued to ravage London, Bristol, and other British cities. An invasion by sea was a possibility in the near future. The greatest immediate peril, however, was the U-boat threat to British supply lines. German submarines in the Atlantic were sinking hundreds of thousands of tons of merchant shipping each month, with losses that more than doubled in less than four months.

At the end of one of the coldest winters in recorded history, the British were barely hanging on, with little food, scarce heat, and dwindling hope. Imports of food and raw materials had fallen to just over half their prewar levels, prices were skyrocketing, and there were severe shortages of everything from meat to timber.

The week before Winant’s arrival in Britain, one of Winston Churchill’s private secretaries passed on to the prime minister the latest in a series of reports of merchant ship sinkings. When the secretary remarked how “very distressing” the news was, Churchill glared at him. “Distressing?” he exclaimed. “It is terrifying! If it goes on, it will be the end of us.” Top German officials agreed. That same month, Foreign Minister Joachim Ribbentrop told the Japanese ambassador in Berlin that “even now England was experiencing serious trouble in keeping up her food supply.?.?.?. The important thing now [is] to sink enough ships to reduce England’s imports to below the absolute minimum necessary for existence.”

surrounded by a gauntlet of enemy submarines, warships, and aircraft, Britain could survive, Churchill believed, only if a very reluctant America could somehow be persuaded to enter the war. He continued to nurture that hope, even as President Roosevelt said repeatedly that the United States was, and would remain, neutral. “The expert politician in the President is always trying to find a way of winning the war for the Allies—and, if he fails to do that, of ensuring the security of the United States—without the U.S. itself having to take the plunge into the war,” the British ambassador to Washington confided to the Foreign Office, which, like the U.S. State Department, was responsible for promoting its country’s interests abroad.

Yet it was hard to blame Roosevelt for his caution. After all, the British themselves had done their best to stay out of war in the 1930s, standing quietly by as Hitler rose to power and began his conquest of Europe. For the sake of peace—Britain’s peace—the Chamberlain government had done little or nothing in the late 1930s to prevent country after country from being swallowed up by Germany. In the case of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland, Britain, at the Munich conference, had been complicit in its seizure. Then, in the chaos- filled days of June 1940, the British, to their shock, found themselves facing Germany alone. With their future bordering on the calamitous, they hoped the United States would pay more attention to them than they had paid to Europe.

Churchill, the country’s combative new prime minister, was relentless in wheedling, pleading, and coaxing Roosevelt for more support. In his speeches, FDR responded magnificently. He promised all aid short of war, and, after Germany conquered France and launched the Battle of Britain, he declared: “If Britain is to survive, we must act.” But, as the British saw it, America’s actions did not match its president’s words: the help it sent was invariably too little and too late. Even more disturbing, it always came with a cat’s cradle of strings attached.

In exchange for the fifty aging U.S. destroyers that Churchill sought in the summer of 1940, the Roosevelt administration demanded that it be awarded ninety-nine-year leases for the use of military bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda, and six British possessions in the Caribbean. The deal was, as everyone knew, far more advantageous for the United States than for Britain, and it was deeply resented by the British government. Nonetheless, the British had little choice but to accept what they considered grossly unfair terms. “This rather smacks of Russia’s demands on Finland,” John Colville, a private secretary to Churchill, wrote sourly in his diary.

The British felt even more aggrieved w...

From AudioFile

Lynne Olson's account of Americans in London during the Second World War is an account of people, not places or events. It ranges from her praiseworthy attempt to resuscitate the reputation of the heroic United States Ambassador John Gilbert Winant to sometimes-lengthy catalogues of sexual liaisons between prominent Americans and Britons. Some basic knowledge of the war in Europe comes in handy. The topics of Winant and Edward R. Murrow provide the focus that holds the sometimes-diffuse audiobook together-more so than the topic of the people of London. Arthur Morey's clear, measured voice gives the listener easy access to the numerous characters and sometimes-complex facts. Morey recounts bedroom gossip and high strategy in the same serious tone, not unlike Edward R. Murrow, who figures so prominently in the story. F.C. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00362XLI2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House; 1st edition (January 28, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 28, 2010
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 6338 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 672 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #168,915 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #239 in Military History of the United States
- #462 in World War II History (Kindle Store)
- #1,242 in American Military History

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Lynne Olson

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Lynne Olson is a New York Times bestselling author of nine books of history. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has called her “our era’s foremost chronicler of World War II politics and diplomacy.”

Lynne’s latest book, Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples From Destruction, will be published by Random House in February 2023. Her earlier books include three New York Times bestsellers: Madame Fourcade’s Secret War: The Daring Young Woman Who Led France’s Largest Spy Network Against the Nazis; Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America’s Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941, and Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour.

Born in Hawaii, Lynne graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arizona. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a journalist for ten years, first with the Associated Press as a national feature writer in New York, a foreign correspondent in AP’s Moscow bureau, and a political reporter in Washington. She left the AP to join the Washington bureau of the Baltimore Sun, where she covered national politics and eventually the White House.

Lynne lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Stanley Cloud, with whom she co-authored two books. Visit Lynne Olson at http://lynneolson.com.

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Curtis C. Patrick, author

OLSON'S LITERARY MASTERPIECE

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

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!!!

4 people found this helpful

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Ice Pick Mike

Detailed History For The Time Period

Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2020

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Being a history buff I really enjoyed this book. Great insight to the people and Great Britain during the WWII years and the political games being played. The characters are real people and reveals quite a bit about their professional and private lives. What I always suspected about FDR was confirmed, he was not a worldly thinker and was focused always on his re-elections. Churchill was great war time leader and his family antics are most interesting. Edward R. Murrow was a very interesting man and his work during WWII is very well depicted. The main character is Ambassador Winnant, who was the US Ambassador to Great Britian and his work to keep the relationship between the US and Great Britain in a coordinated effort to defeat the Axis Powers and keep Great Britain from being defeated in the early years of the war. There are many other famous people referenced and what their personalities, social life and back grounds are addressed and their efforts or lack of are addressed. You will be surprised at how FDR operated or failed to and the relationship he had with Churchill and Stalin. Great book and I enjoyed reading it. Well written and researched. If you are interested about this time period you will enjoy this read.

Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2013

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As a second world war buff, I came to know a great deal more than I knew before, after reading Ms. Olson's book. Most history books talk of the Anglo-American relationship as a special one, what with Churchill signing off as "A Naval Person" in his letters to Roosevelt. Olson shows FDR in a new light, trying to curry favour with Stalin at Churchill's expense. This was to say the least utterly childish on FDR's part, he was probably suffering from second childhood. FDR does not come off as a truly great man according to this book. Churchill, despite his warmongering character was nevertheless a more humane sort of person, as far as personal relationships were concerned. It was a revelation to know how hurt he was due to FDR's behavior at Teheran and Yalta. How Stalin must have thought about this "little, petty man?

The adultery of Churchill's daughter and daughter in law would have been scandalous at any other time had it not been for the war. War time usually relegates morality to the back burner, with death hovering ever close, almost every day, men and women behave unnaturally. Churchill, had he known or not known about these affairs (he was too intelligent a man to have not known anything entirely)he behaved rightly. He would also have known the pattern of his mother's numerous romances and even his wife Clementine's affair on her passage to Australia. These things cannot interfere with one's life at a time when one is responsible for the survival of one's country.

A great read, I read through it in two nights.

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Top reviews from other countries

John Gardner

A fine description of the conditions experienced by the citizens of ...

Reviewed in Canada on July 4, 2014

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A fine description of the conditions experienced by the citizens of London during and immediately after the war. Describes well the dichotomy between the isolationists and those who wished to help. Outlines the problems within the US military establishment (not being prepared to learn from others) and the strains between the US politicians and industrialists agenda re the British Empire and the British government. This does not denigrate the sacrifices of the US soldiers and airmen in Europe. It does describe the abilities of Eisenhower in holding the egos of the military commanders in check. The Marshall plan was one of the great successes in the post war era.

One person found this helpful

mishmish

Americans in War-Torn Britain

Reviewed in France on June 29, 2014

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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.

Linda Sheean

Citizens of London

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 21, 2012

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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

One person found this helpful

jack

Great read!

Reviewed in Canada on August 17, 2023

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

PHILIP AUERBACH

Citizens of London

Reviewed in France on July 11, 2015

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If you want to understand what really happened in London during WW II and the behavior of the British people under the bombs and their American allies ( as well as several exceptional and a number of disappointing leaders ), you could not find a better introduction

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Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

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