Read more
"In the summer of 1941, Harry Hopkins, Franklin Roosevelt's trusted advisor, arrived in Moscow to assess whether the US should send aid to Russia as it had to Britain. And unofficially he was there to determine whether Josef Stalin -- the man who had starved four million Ukrainians to death in the early 1930s, another million in the purges of the late 1930s, and a further million in the labor camps of the Gulag -- was worth saving. Hopkins sensed that saving Stalin was going to be a treacherous business. In this powerful narrative, author John Kelly chronicles the turbulent wartime relationship between Britain, America, and the Soviet Union with a unique focus on unknown and unexplored aspects of the story, including how Britain and America employed the promise of a second front in France to restrain Soviet territorial ambitions and how the Soviets, in their turn, used threats of a separate peace with Germany to extract concessions from the western allies. Kelly paints a vivid picture of how the war impacted the relationship between the leaders and war managers among the Allies. In Saving Stalin, for the first time, the war becomes a major character, co-equal with the book's three other major characters: Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill"--
About the author
John Kelly is the author of the highly praised bestseller The Great Mortality, about the Black Death of 1348, and the acclaimed The Graves Are Walking, about the Irish famine of the mid-nineteenth century, as well as Never Surrender, his praised previous book about the beginning of World War II. He has written extensively about medicine, history, and psychology. He lives in New York City.
Summary
During World War II, the Allied leaders banded together, forged a great victory--and created a new and dangerous post-war world.
In the summer of 1941, Harry Hopkins, Franklin Roosevelt's trusted advisor, arrived in Moscow to assess whether the US should send aid to Russia as it had to Britain. Unofficially, he was there to determine whether Josef Stalin--the man who had killed over six million Ukrainians during the 1930s--was worth saving.
In this riveting and sweeping narrative, author John Kelly chronicles the turbulent wartime relationship between the great leaders--Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin--and military commanders of America, Britain, and the Soviet Union. Faced with the greatest challenge of the century, the Allied leaders and their war managers struggled against a common enemy--and each other. The story behind how victory was forged is an epic story, rich in drama, passion and larger-than-life personalities. The Allies eventually triumphed, but at what cost?
Using his trademark character-rich writing style and focusing on unique, unknown, and unexplored aspects of the story, Kelly offers a fresh perspective on the decision-making that changed the course of the war--and the course of history.
Saving Stalin brings to vivid life the epic story of the century's greatest human catastrophe. It is an unforgettable master work in historical narrative.
Foreword
In his trademark character-rich narrative style, John Kelly tells the story of how the relationship among Allied leaders forged victory in World War II--and created a new and dangerous post-war world.
