Threshold of War: Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Entry into World War II - Softcover

Heinrichs, Waldo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195061683 ISBN 13: 9780195061680

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1990

Synopsis

As the first comprehensive treatment of the American entry into World War II to appear in over thirty-five years, Waldo Heinrichs' volume places American policy in a global context, covering both the European and Asian diplomatic and military scenes, with Roosevelt at the center.
Telling a tale of ever-broadening conflict, this vivid narrative weaves back and forth from the battlefields in the Soviet Union, to the intense policy debates within Roosevelt's administration, to the sinking of the battleship Bismarck, to the precarious and delicate negotiations with Japan. Refuting the popular portrayal of Roosevelt as a vacillating, impulsive man who displayed no organizational skills in his decision-making during this period, Heinrichs presents him as a leader who acted with extreme caution and deliberation, who always kept his options open, and who, once Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union stalled in July, 1941, acted rapidly and with great determination. This masterful account of a key moment in American history captures the tension faced by Roosevelt, Churchill, Stimson, Hull, and numerous others as they struggled to shape American policy in the climactic nine months before Pearl Harbor.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The literature on American entry into World War II is rich and abundant but mostly segmented, concerned with particular topics, regions, or relationships.

About the Author

Waldo Heinrichs is Professor of History at Temple University. He is the author of American Ambassador: Joseph C. Grew and the Development of the U.S. Diplomatic Tradition.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0195061683
• ISBN 13: 9780195061680
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 302