Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight

Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER â€¢ NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW AND KIRKUS REVIEWS

From the acclaimed author of Citizens of London comes the definitive account of the debate over American intervention in World War IIâ€”a bitter, sometimes violent clash of personalities and ideas that divided the nation and ultimately determined the fate of the free world.

At the center of this controversy stood the two most famous men in America: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who championed the interventionist cause, and aviator Charles Lindbergh, who as unofficial leader and spokesman for Americaâ€™s isolationists emerged as the presidentâ€™s most formidable adversary. Their contest of wills personified the divisions within the country at large, and Lynne Olson makes masterly use of their dramatic personal stories to create a poignant and riveting narrative. While FDR, buffeted by political pressures on all sides, struggled to marshal public support for aid to Winston Churchillâ€™s Britain, Lindbergh saw his heroic reputation besmirchedâ€”and his marriage thrown into turmoilâ€”by allegations that he was a Nazi sympathizer.

Spanning the years 1939 to 1941, Those Angry Days vividly re-creates the rancorous internal squabbles that gripped the United States in the period leading up to Pearl Harbor. After Germany vanquished most of Europe, America found itself torn between its traditional isolationism and the urgent need to come to the aid of Britain, the only country still battling Hitler. The conflict over intervention was, as FDR noted, â€œa dirty fight,â€ rife with chicanery and intrigue, and Those Angry Days recounts every bruising detail. In Washington, a group of high-ranking military officers, including the Air Force chief of staff, worked to sabotage FDRâ€™s pro-British policies. Roosevelt, meanwhile, authorized FBI wiretaps of Lindbergh and other opponents of intervention. At the same time, a covert British operation, approved by the president, spied on antiwar groups, dug up dirt on congressional isolationists, and planted propaganda in U.S. newspapers.

The stakes could not have been higher. The combatants were larger than life. With the immediacy of a great novel, Those Angry Days brilliantly recalls a time fraught with danger when the future of democracy and Americaâ€™s role in the world hung in the balance.

Praise for Those Angry Days

â€œPowerfully [re-creates] this tenebrous era . . . Olson captures in spellbinding detail the key figures in the battle between the Roosevelt administration and the isolationist movement.â€â€”The New York Times Book Review

â€œPopular history at its most riveting . . . In Those Angry Days, journalist-turned-historian Lynne Olson captures [the] period in a fast-moving, highly readable narrative punctuated by high drama.â€â€”Associated Press
Country USA
Brand Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer Random House Publishing Group
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber Illustrated
Color Black
ReleaseDate 2014-01-14
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780812982145

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer	Random House Publishing Group
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	Illustrated
Color	Black
ReleaseDate	2014-01-14
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780812982145

Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941

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