The Conquerors, Michael R. Beschloss
The Conquerors, Michael R. Beschloss
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The Conquerors
Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945

Author: Michael R. Beschloss

Narrator: Michael R. Beschloss

Abridged: 6 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/01/2002


Synopsis

A New York Times bestseller, The Conquerors reveals how Franklin Roosevelt's and Harry Truman's private struggles with their aides and Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin affected the unfolding of the Holocaust and the fate of vanquished Nazi Germany.

With monumental fairness and balance, The Conquerors shows how Roosevelt privately refused desperate pleas to speak out directly against the Holocaust, to save Jewish refugees, and to explore the possible bombing of Auschwitz to stop the killing. The book also shows FDR's fierce will to ensure that Germany would never threaten the world again. Near the end of World War II, he abruptly endorsed the secret plan of his friend, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, to reduce the Germans to a primitive existence—despite Churchill's fear that crushing postwar Germany would let the Soviets conquer the continent. The book finally shows how, after FDR's death, President Truman rebelled against Roosevelt's tough approach and adopted the Marshall Plan and other more conciliatory policies that culminated in today's democratic, united Europe.

As Presidents Roosevelt and Truman led the United States in World War II in Europe, they dealt with the question of what kind of government should be imposed on Nazi Germany to ensure that Germany could never again drag the world into war. The Conquerors tells the story with much intimate detail and color of how FDR and Truman privately struggled in their own minds and with titanic allies like Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin, through summits and secret messages, to answer that question.

About Michael R. Beschloss

Michael Beschloss has been called "the nation's leading Presidential historian" by Newsweek. He has written nine books on American Presidents and is NBC News Presidential Historian, as well as contributor to PBS's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Arminius on April 26, 2015

This book is a very informative narrative of a very interesting War and time period. It covers just the years 1941 through 1945. Most of it deals with American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, England’s Prime Minister Winston Church Hill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin’s handling of the war again......more

Goodreads review by Erik on October 24, 2020

This is a history of Allied planning for a postwar Germany. Noting that Germany evolved, even after reunification, into a peaceful representative democracy, author Beschloss is interested in what went right and how it came to be so despite the passionate debates between and within the allied governm......more

Goodreads review by Lauren on March 04, 2019

Michael Beschloss is a great presidential historian. In The Conquerors he takes an in-depth behind the scenes look at decision making by the Roosevelt and Truman administrations regarding treatment of Jewish refugees, the Holocaust, and what to do with post-war Germany. Beschloss relies largely on t......more

Goodreads review by Ralph on February 08, 2013

The book is "The Conquerors" by Michael Beschloss and its focus is somewhat different from what you might expect from the title. I expected the book to be about the strategy and battles of the war against Nazi Germany. To my surprise and minor disappointment, these events were barely mentioned. Inste......more

Goodreads review by Nathan on September 17, 2007

Michael Beschloss' The Conquerors is a wonderful examination of how Roosevelt, Truman and other Allied leaders planned the destruction of Hitler's war machine as well post-war Germany (remember back when we planned ahead?!). The book focuses heavily on Truman's plans for post-war Germany, and in par......more