A new understanding of the post World War II era, showing what occurred when the British Empire wouldn’t step aside for the rising American superpower―with global insights for today.
Important and engaging ... Leebaert places too much emphasis on the idea of Eisenhower as a 'genial mediocrity,' a ventriloquist’s dummy whose strings were pulled by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles ... The most useful criticism of this riveting book might well be that the author should have considered the British in the 1960s.
A dense reconstruction of events and leaders from 1945 to 1957 that draws impressively on many original sources ... One might quarrel with the belligerence in the subtitle ... Leebaert’s thesis should send everyone back to the original sources ... Leebaert is no jingoist like the flag-waving Brexiteers ignorant of history as they lead Britain over a cliff ... offers some persuasive bullet points.
Of considerable interest is the author’s look inside policy differences between the U.S. and Britain (and other Western powers) on the conduct of the wars in Vietnam, Korea, and other theaters ... A sturdy exploration of lesser-known aspects of the Cold War, focusing on the rivalry between allies as much as enemies.
