Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour

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• ISBN13: 9781400067589
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Product Description
In Citizens of London, Lynne Olson has written a work of World War II history even more significant and revealing than her acclaimed Troublesome Young Men. Here is the behind-the-scenes tale of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman, and John Gilbert Winant. Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Olson skillfully depicts the dramatic personal journeys of these men who, determined to save Britain from Hitler, helped convince a cautious Franklin Roosevelt and a reluctant American public to support the British at a critical time.

The three—Murrow, the handsome, chain-smoking head of CBS News in Europe; Harriman, the hard-driving millionaire who ran FDR’s Lend-Lease program in London; and Winant, the shy, idealistic U.S. ambassador to Britain—formed close ties with Winston Churchill and were drawn into Churchill’s official and personal circles. So intense were their relationships with the Churchills that they all became romantically involved with members of the prime minister’s family tree: Harriman and Murrow with Churchill’s daughter-in-law, Pamela, and Winant with his favorite daughter, Sarah. 
 
Others were honorary “citizens of London” as well, including the gregarious, fiercely ambitious Dwight D. Eisenhower, an obscure all-purpose who, as the first commander of American forces in Britain, was determined to do everything in his power to make the alliance a success, and Tommy Hitchcock, a world-legendary polo player and World War I fighter pilot who helped save the Allies’ bombing battle against Germany.

Citizens of London, but, is more than just the tale of these Americans and the world leaders they aided and influenced. It’s an engrossing account of the transformative power of personal diplomacy and, above all, a rich, panoramic tale of two cities: Washington, D.C., a bone idle Southern town slowly growing into a hub of international power, and London, a class-conscious capital transformed by the Blitz into a model of stoic grace under violent pressure and deprivation. Deeply human, brilliantly researched, and perfectly written, Citizens of London is a new triumph from an leader swiftly apt one of the finest in her meadow.Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2010: Citizens of London is the tale of the American firebrands who broke rank with well loved opinion and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with England during the bleak infancy of World War II. Leader Lynne Olson more than lives up to the critical acclaim of her last book, Troublesome Young Men, by exploring the origins of an Anglo-American alliance that helped turn the tide during the most widespread conflict in history. Although additional “Yanks” rallied against the hesitancy of their isolationist government before Pearl Harbor, few matched the impact of U.S. ambassador John Gilbert Winant, businessman Averell Harriman, and broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. Each recognizable the insidious dangers of Nazi aggression, and with the help of meticulous research, Olson elucidates the challenges they endured to help bridge political and cultural gaps between the United States and Britain. At a time when the English capital was described as “swimming in the full tide of history,” Citizens of London echoes Tennyson in its tribute to persons who strove, sought, and refused to yield. –Dave Callanan

Exclusive Q&A with Lynne Olson

Amazon.com: Your last three books (Citizens of London, Troublesome Young Men, and A Question of Honor) have all ears on England during the late 1930’s/early 1940’s. As a historian, what draws you to this period?

Olson: I’ve been fascinated with the place and the period ever since my spouse, Stan Cloud, and I wrote our first book, The Murrow Boys, about Edward R. Murrow and the correspondents he hired to make CBS News before and during World War II. Several scenes in the book take place in London during the Battle of Britain and the 1940-41 Blitz. In doing research for The Murrow Boys, I got caught up in the tale of Britain’s struggle for survival in persons early years of the war – and the extraordinary leadership of Winston Churchill and courage of ordinary Britons in waging that fight. I learned that there were still a number of tales about the period that remained largely unknown and untold, so I chose to tell them myself.

Amazon.com: Had Pearl Harbor not forced America’s hand, how much longer could England have lasted against Germany?

Olson: That’s an brilliant “what if” question. Churchill, for one, was desperately apprehensive that Britain would be defeated by Germany in 1942 if the United States didn’t enter the war. In the days immediately before Pearl Harbor, he knew that the Japanese were also on the go, and he was worried they were going to strike at British territory in Asia. If that had happened, his country would have been forced into a two-front war, with no lifeline from the United States – which nearly assuredly would have meant the end for Britain. So it’s no marvel than when he heard the news of Pearl Harbor on the night of Dec. 7, 1941, he was euphoric. It meant, as he later wrote, that no matter how many military setbacks lay yet to be, “England would live.”

Amazon.com: In contrast to Winant and Murrow, Harriman was a bit of a bourgeois playboy. What made you include him in this book?

Olson: There’s no question that Harriman’s social life was considerably more confused in London than that of Winant and Murrow. At the same time, but, he was a persistent, extremely hard-effective administrator of Lend Lease aid for Britain, who did what he could to speed up the flow of American help to the British and who pushed the Roosevelt administration hard for more vigorous action and more direct involvement in the war. He also carved out for himself reasonably an influential role as conduit and buffer between Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill.

I also wanted to include Harriman for another reason – to point up the contrast between his tough-minded pragmatism and the idealism of Winant and Murrow. These three men, I reflect, reflected the complexity of America and its attitude to the rest of the world at that time. Winant and Murrow, who championed economic and social reform as well as international cooperation, reflected America’s idealistic side. Harriman, who was intent on broadening his own power and influence, as well as that of his country, became an exemplar of U.S. exceptionalism. In the postwar era, it was his world view that, for the most part, dominated American foreign policy.

Amazon.com: You note an nearly apathetic Churchill response to American dalliances within his family tree. Was this a diplomatic necessity or was he simply too all ears on the larger picture?

Olson: I’m not sure I would call him “apathetic.” I reflect that “pragmatic” would be a better word. I should also point out that it’s not an absolute certainty he knew about the affair that occurred between Averell Harriman and Pamela Churchill, the wife of his son, Randolph, which started in 1941. When Randolph later accused his father of condoning adultery under his own roof, Churchill denied any knowledge of what was going on. That being said, I do judge, as did Pamela, that he was aware of what she and Harriman were up to. Churchill loved Randolph, and while I’m sure he was not tickled about the Pamela/Harriman affair, he knew how vital Harriman and the additional Americans were to the survival of Britain, and he had no intention of letting personal matters interfere with the national interest. Besides, Pamela proved to be a useful conduit for him and Harriman, passing on to each man information and insights she had establish out from the additional.

When Pamela took up with Edward R. Murrow later in the war, she was already separated from Randolph, and I doubt that Churchill cared one way or the additional. As for the affair between his daughter, Sarah, and John Gilbert Winant, the couple kept their involvement exceptionally discreet. Sarah believed her father knew about it, but he never said anything, and I don’t reflect he would have minded.

Amazon.com: Talk about the lower-profile “Citizens of London” — the courageous Americans who violated their own country’s laws to volunteer for the RAF.

Olson: In the late 1930s, as part of its desperate effort to keep the United States out of war, the American government did, as you note, make it illegal for any U.S. citizen to join the military service of a warring power. But, after Britain confirmed war on Germany in September 1939, thousands of young Americans disregarded that law and traveled to England to join the British or Canadian armed forces. Unlike the hordes of Yanks who descended on Britain just prior to D-Day, the early U.S. volunteers became an vital part of Britain’s military and society.

The best-known volunteers were persons who joined the Royal Air Force. Seven U.S. citizens were counted among “The Few” – the celebrated band of RAF pilots who, in their Hurricanes and Spitfires, successfully beat back the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain in the summer and fall of 1940. Over the next several months, an additional 300-plus Americans enlisted in the RAF — so many that they were soon agreed their own units, called the Eagle Squadrons. Churchill, who straight away saw what a powerful propaganda tool the American squadrons could be, enthusiastically endorsed the thought.

When the U.S. finally entered the conflict, virtually all the Americans serving in the RAF transferred to the U.S Army Air Forces. Of the 244 pilots who flew in the Eagle Squadrons, more than 40 per cent did not survive the war.

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