Politics, War, and Personality: Fifty Iconic World War II Documents That Changed the World

From the best-selling author of World War II: Saving the Reality comes a new book that gathers 50 of the most important and iconic documents of the biggest war in human history. Kenneth W. Rendell tells the dramatic stories of these history-drenched documents, each one part of his outstanding collection in the Museum of World War II.

Inside you'll find:

• A hand-written letter by Benito Mussolini, around 1908: "Life in this semi-wild village of my birth is beginning to weigh on me, and to get away from it I got and idea...."
• The 1933 order by which Hindenburg gave in to Adolf Hitler's demands - leading to what would be the last elections held in Weimar Germany.
• A program outlining the Nazi Party's original platform, with a colored sketch by Hitler.
• Franklin Roosevelt's letter to the people of France after their defeat by Germany.
• The first urgent message sent during the Japanese attack in 1941: "Air raid on Pearl Harbor X This is no drill."
• Japan's declaration of war against the United States.
• A poignant letter from General Dwight Eisenhower to his wife - the most revealing letter of a commander-in-chief in wartime.
• A letter from Winston Churchill to Josef Stalin, deciding the fate of Poland.
• The communique signed by Eisenhower, announcing the D-Day landings on the northern coast of France.
• A letter from General George S. Patton, describing the Battle of the Bulge - as it was happening.
• A note from Oscar Schindler, who saved Polish Hews by putting them on his list of "factory workers" - "Mrs. Kellner is to be considered a Swedish citizen and is to be exempted from bearing the distinctive Jewish sign."
• Hitler's order of March 30, 1945, one month before his suicide, ordering the fanatical defense of Berlin.
• A letter from Franklin Roosevelt, five days before his death, writing of "complete victory over our enemies."
• General MacArthur's draft of the surrender terms for Japan.
• Hermann Goering's detention report from Nuremberg.
• Letters from Anne Frank's father and aunt after the war.
• A letter from Harry Truman, 1957, explaining the necessity of dropping the atomic bombs.
• and many more historic and profoundly important documents.

Ken Rendell - master collector, literary sleuth, and historian - has given us a book that I will long treasure and restudy. Thousands of others will do the same." - John S.D. Eisenhower (Retired Ambassador, U.S. Army Brigadier General, Son of Dwight D. Eisenhower)