Author(s): Warren F. Kimball

Second World War

My dear Churchill, it is because you and I occupied similar positions in the World War that I want you to know how glad I am that you are back again in the Admiralty... wrote Franklin D. Roosevelt to Winston Churchill in September 1939, opening what would become one of modern history's most significant partnerships. Though only five and a half years long, it was to be one of the most crucial wartime alliance of the 20th century. In this book, Warren Kimball draws extensively on his knowledge of Churchill and Roosevelt's correspondence (nearly 2000 letters, memoranda and messages which Kimball edited in three volumes) to paint an unforgettable portrait of their partnership. It shows both how critical their combined leadership was to the eventual Allied victory and how it laid the groundwork for the peace that followed - a peace in which both, for very different reasons, would be denied a role. The book is also an account of the crucial events of World War II, a history of the diplomacy, politics and strategy that lay behind the Allied war effort and an examination of the impact and limitations of effective leadership.