The inside story of how FDR and the towering personalities around him waged war in the corridors of Washington, D.C., to secure ultimate victory on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific during World War II.
Lacey deals with issues and strategies, including complex economic considerations, that many others have largely bypassed ... Comparisons to Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals (2005), about Lincoln’s cabinet, are inevitable, and, in fact, the two books make an excellent pairing. A convincing addition to the literature of WWII.
Mr. Lacey’s summary judgment, coming near the end of this superb book, is a fair one: 'World War II challenged Americans to rise to greatness. . . . Roosevelt led the way and stood at the pinnacle of events.'
Drawing plentiful information from archival sources and biographies, Lacey goes into exhaustive and sometimes extraneous detail to demonstrate how the numerous conflicts within the administration led to 'grudging compromises' that resulted in better outcomes than one person working alone would have ... Lacey’s repetitive prose more often telegraphs than evokes. This volume will likely appeal less to readers of military history than to those who relish tales of Beltway squabbles and bureaucracy gone awry.
