Eight Days at Yalta: How Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin Shaped the Post-War World

by Diana Preston

Overview

While some of the last battles of WWII were being fought, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin—the so-called “Big Three”—met from February 4-11, 1945, in the Crimean resort town of Yalta. Over eight days of bargaining, bombast, and intermittent bonhomie, while Soviet soldiers and NKVD men patrolled the grounds of the three palaces occupied by their delegations, they decided, among other things, on the endgame of the war against Nazi Germany and how a defeated and occupied Germany should be governed, on the constitution of the nascent United Nations, on the price of Soviet entry into the war against Japan, on the new borders of Poland, and on spheres of influence elsewhere in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and Greece.

With the deep insight of a skilled historian, drawing on the memorable accounts of those who were there—from the leaders and high level advisors such as Averell Harriman, Anthony Eden, and Andrei Gromyko, to Churchill’s clear-eyed secretary Marian Holmes and FDR’s insightful daughter Anna Boettiger—Diana Preston has, on the 75th anniversary of this historic event, crafted a masterful and vivid chronicle of the conference that created the post-war world, out of which came decisions that still resonate loudly today.

Ever since, who “won” Yalta has been debated. Three months after the conference, Roosevelt was dead, and right after Germany’s surrender, Churchill wrote to the new president, Harry Truman, of “an iron curtain” that was now “drawn upon [the Soviets’] front.” Knowing his troops controlled eastern Europe, Stalin’s judgment in April 1945 thus speaks volumes: “Whoever occupies a territory also imposes on it his own social system.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802147653
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/04/2020
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	290,329
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Diana Preston is a prize-winning historian and author of A Higher Form of Killing, Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy, Before the Fallout: From Marie Curie to Hiroshima (winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology), The Boxer Rebellion, Paradise in Chains, and A Pirate of Exquisite Mind, among other works of acclaimed narrative history. She and her husband, Michael, live in London.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Maps xi

Dramatis Personae xiii

Prologue 1

Part 1 Personalities, Politics and Pressures

Chapter 1 'The Big Three' 7

Chapter 2 'We Ended Friends' 26

Part 2 Preparations, Malta and Elsewhere, Early 1945

Chapter 3 Argonaut 45

Chapter 4 'One Tiny Bright Flame in the Darkness' 71

Part 3 'Jaw to Jaw', Yalta, 3-11 February 1945

Chapter 5 'All the Comforts of Home' 93

Chapter 6 'Uncle Joe and Stone Arse' 112

Chapter 7 'To Each According to his Deserts' 128

Chapter 8 'The Monstrous Bastard of the Peace of Versailles' 148

Chapter 9 'The Riviera of Hades' 172

Chapter 10 'The Broad Sunlit Plains of Peace and Happiness' 188

Chapter 11 'Quite a Decent Arrangement About Poland' 208

Chapter 12 'Judge Roosevelt Approves' 225

Chapter 13 'A Landmark in Human History' 243

Part 4 An Alliance Under Pressure, February to August 1945

Chapter 14 Elephants in the Room 259

Chapter 15 'A Fraudulent Prospectus' 271

Chapter 16 'I Liked the Little Son of a Bitch' 291

Part 5 Aftermath

Chapter 17 The Iron Curtain Descends 313

Epilogue 323

Acknowledgements 328

Notes and Sources 331

Bibliography 370

Index 381

Editorial Reviews

12/16/2019

Historian Preston (Paradise in Chains) describes how “war-weary” British prime minister Winston Churchill, “seriously ill” U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Soviet autocrat Joseph Stalin planned the end of WWII in this spirited, behind-the-scenes account of the February 1945 Yalta Conference. Preston mixes foreign policy critique—arguing, for example, that if the U.S. had threatened Russia with curtailing the Lend-Lease program for military allies, Poland might have been better served by the negotiations, and if Churchill and Roosevelt had been better briefed on the progress of the Manhattan Project, they might not have been so keen to have the Red Army join the fight against Japan—with vibrant descriptions of backstage activities, including Soviet intelligence agents intercepting British and American communications and “half-starving” Romanian prisoners of war reviving dilapidated palace gardens. Preston brings to the fore secondary characters like Anna Boettiger, Roosevelt’s daughter, who curtailed access to her father while looking after his health, and reveals how Stalin’s unwillingness to compromise over Eastern Europe, FDR’s focus on the United Nations, Churchill’s determination to retain control over Hong Kong, and the exclusion of “irksome” French leader Charles de Gaulle helped to shape the post-WWII order. Colorful personalities, piquant details, and a diverse array of perspectives make this a satisfying introduction to the subject. Agent: Michael Carlisle, InkWell Management. (Mar)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Diana Preston:

“Preston deftly and graphically weaves the complex stories—hitherto kept distinct—of these land, sea, and air innovations into a connected narrative. For the first time, readers can grasp the mounting cognitive assault on civilians, soldiers, and politicians of the curious clustering of events that spring.”—New York Times Book Review, on A Higher Form of Killing

“A gripping and excellent book . . . [Preston’s] expensive archival research fills in the historical chronology with well-selected quotations from personal accounts of participants at every level of civilian and military life.”—Washington Post, on A Higher Form of Killing

“Unforgettable . . . The definitive account of the Lusitania.”—Philadelphia Inquirer, on Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy

“As majestic as its subject . . . Extraordinarily readable.”—Chicago Sun-Times, on Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy

“An engaging narrative . . . Rich in detail and texture.”—San Diego Union Tribune, on Before the Fallout: From Marie Curie to Hiroshima

“Ultimately this book is about survival, and the author engagingly recounts the nearly impossible task of trying to establish a penal colony with few supplies and poor agricultural conditions. Preston shines in her description of the true nature of Captain Bligh . . . A wonderful look into the beginnings of Australia and the remarkable strength of the survivors of these dangerous voyages.”—Kirkus Reviews, on Paradise in Chains

From the Publisher

11/01/2019

During the Yalta Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, during World War II, the "Big Three" Allied leaders—Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt—met to discuss the fate of post-war Europe. In a straightforward narrative, historian and author Preston (A Higher Form of Killing) details issues the leaders discussed: the creation of the United Nations, the Soviet occupation of Germany, the borders of Poland, and the entry of the Soviets into war against Japan. Preston also considers the impact of what was referred to as the spheres of influence in Central and Eastern Europe. Using memoirs, personal letters, and official correspondence from the three leaders, Preston considers their personalities and interactions. The author details the planning that went into the Yalta Conference, as well as its longstanding impact on the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. This book can be compared to Yalta: The Price of Peace (2010) by S. M. Plokhy and The Allies (2018) by Winston Groom. VERDICT This examination into the Yalta conference is a solid choice for readers of popular history who want to understand the lessons and legacy of Yalta—as important now as ever.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr., Lib. of Congress, Washington, DC

Library Journal

2019-10-08
On the Yalta conference's 75th anniversary, this insightful history recounts its enormous, if teeth-gnashing, accomplishments.

In her latest impressively researched volume, award-winning historian Preston (A Higher Form of Killing: Six Weeks in World War I That Forever Changed the Nature of Warfare, 2015, etc.) emphasizes that the goal of the 1945 meeting was to decide the fate of Germany and the Eastern European nations liberated from Nazi domination. The author astutely points out that while Franklin Roosevelt was not necessarily a deep thinker, he was a master in the rough-and-tumble arena of American politics. He arrived at Yalta confident that he could handle Stalin better than Churchill. Many readers may be unaware that Churchill, despite his charisma and heroism early in the war, was extremely conservative, even for his conservative party. He refused to consider social programs as long as the war continued, a fact that contributed to his defeat in the 1945 election. His fierce opposition to independence for British colonies irritated the Americans as well as many in his own party. Stalin insisted that Eastern Europe must provide a barrier—i.e., friendly governments—between the Soviet Union and Germany. Since his armies already occupied the area, there was little the war-weary Allies could do except extract a promise to hold free elections; he duly promised and, within months, reneged. Almost everyone, Preston included, agrees that the two leaders betrayed Eastern Europe at Yalta. She adds that both genuinely wanted a democratic postwar Europe, but this took a back seat to their national priorities. Roosevelt's main priority was persuading Stalin to join the war against Japan, which was proving brutally difficult. Like his hero, Woodrow Wilson, he yearned to create an international organization to enforce world peace. Stalin agreed to both, but at a price. Churchill aimed to preserve British influence. Stalin had no objection and threw him a bone by agreeing not to support Greek communist insurgents.

An expert account of an unedifying milestone at the dawn of the Cold War.

Kirkus Reviews

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