The author details the year 1944, which determined the outcome of World War II and put more pressure than any other on an ailing yet determined President Roosevelt.
1944 does not break any new ground, as Winik leans heavily on the archival digging done by other scholars over the last generation...But for the general reader, this dramatic account highlights what too often has been glossed over — that as nobly as the Greatest Generation fought under FDR’s command, America could well have done more to thwart Nazi aggression.
The strength of 1944 is that it covers the broad sweep of the war in one volume, with sprightly prose and a few literary touches...But the ambitious scope of 1944 is also a weakness.
Winik’s attempt to change history is ultimately unconvincing. The field of Holocaust studies is crowded with books much more worthy. In truth, 1944 left me rather annoyed. It’s poorly conceived and shoddily presented.
