No End Save Victory: How FDR Led the Nation into War

by David Kaiser, Paul Christy (Read by)

Overview

While Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first hundred days may be the most celebrated period of his presidency, the months before the attack on Pearl Harbor proved the most critical. Beginning as early as 1939, when Germany first attacked Poland, Roosevelt skillfully navigated a host of challenges: a reluctant population, an unprepared military, and disagreements within his cabinet to prepare the country for its inevitable confrontation with the Axis.

In No End Save Victory, esteemed historian David Kaiser draws on extensive archival research to reveal the careful preparations that enabled the United States to win World War II. Alarmed by Germany and Japan's aggressive militarism, Roosevelt understood that the United States would almost certainly be drawn into the conflict raging in Europe and Asia. However, the American populace, still traumatized by memories of the First World War, was reluctant to intervene in European and Asian affairs. Even more serious was the deplorable state of the American military. In September of 1940, Roosevelt's military advisors told him that the United States would not have the arms, ammunition, or men necessary to undertake any major military operation overseas, let alone win such a fight, until April of 1942. Aided by his closest military and civilian collaborators, Roosevelt pushed a series of military expansions through Congress that nearly doubled the size of the US Navy and Army and increased production of the arms, tanks, bombers, and warships that would allow America to prevail in the coming fight.

Highlighting Roosevelt's deft management of the strong personalities within his cabinet and his able navigation of the shifting tides of war, No End Save Victory is the definitive account of America's preparations for and entry into World War II. As Kaiser shows, it was Roosevelt's masterful leadership and prescience that prepared the reluctant nation to fight and gave it the tools to win.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781511318969
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	12/29/2015
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

David Kaiser has taught history at Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, the Naval War College, and Williams College. The author of seven books, including American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War, and The Road to Dallas: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Kaiser lives in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Generation, A Man, A Moment

Chapter 1: Civilization Under Threat, May 1940

Chapter 2: Arms and Politics, May–August 1940

Chapter 3: The Growing Threat of World War, June–September 1940

Chapter 4: Reelection and Reassessment, October 1940–January 1941

Chapter 5: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back, January–May 1941

Chapter 6: Enlisting the Nation: January–June 1941

Chapter 7: Toward World War, June–August 1941

Chapter 8: Planning for Victory, August–November 1941

Chapter 9: To Pearl Harbor, October–December 1941

Epilogue: Generations in Crisis

Editorial Reviews

…[a] judicious, detailed and soundly researched history of Roosevelt's tortuous process of first preparing America psychologically, politically and militarily, and then nudging the country into that apocalyptic struggle. This story has, of course, been told many times before, but what Kaiser especially brings to the table is his mastery not only of the documents and other primary sources that directly reveal Roosevelt's behind-the-scenes leadership but also of other archives that are sometimes too little mined by political historians, like Army and Navy war plans…Kaiser has brought us a careful, nuanced, credible account of the events and complex issues surrounding America's entry into World War II, which, however historical fashions change, is likely to wear well over the years.

The New York Times Book Review - Michael Beschloss

Williamson Murray, author of A War To Be Won: Fighting the Second World War
"David Kaiser has written an outstanding book on Franklin Roosevelt's strategic course in the dark days, from the late 1930s to America's entrance into the Second World War. Among its many strong points is a revealing and persuasive reconsideration of Roosevelt's strategic thinking during this period. Above all Kaiser's portrait underlines that without the president's wisdom and political sagacity, the Germans might well have won the war. This is a book that anyone with an interest in that terrible conflict must read."

Jeremi Suri, author of Liberty's Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama
“Franklin Roosevelt remains the most important and puzzling American war leader of the last century. David Kaiser's fascinating book offers powerful and relevant insights into how Roosevelt transformed an isolationist country with an ill-prepared military into a united and formidable fighting force. Kaiser shows how Roosevelt anticipated dangerous developments, how he invented new procedures for war preparations, and how he persuaded a skeptical public to fight an extended war. Roosevelt displayed a mix of strategic foresight, political acumen, and public charisma that our country has not seen again. Kaiser's book is vitally important because it demystifies Roosevelt, making him a realistic model for our own times.”

Indiana News-Sentinel
“This is a fascinating read, and if you are a lover of history, you'll have a wonderful time.”

Military History Quarterly
“An extraordinary book.... For those interested in American strategy during the run-up to World War II, this is a must read.”

Battles and Book Reviews
“An interesting and compelling account of the events in America during the 18 months prior to American entry into WWII.... I highly recommend this book to anybody interested in World War II, but especially to people who think they are familiar with America's role in that war. An outstanding book.”

Kirkus
“Kaiser's research is both comprehensive and illuminating....An admiring, richly textured portrait of a leader confronting the unthinkable.”

Michael Beschloss, New York Times Book Review
“[A] judicious, detailed and soundly researched history.... Kaiser has brought us a careful, nuanced, credible account of the events and complex issues surrounding America's entry into World War II, which, however historical fashions change, is likely to wear well over the years.”

Wall Street Journal
“Mr. Kaiser…offers a tightly focused examination of Roosevelt's foreign policy from the defeat of France in May 1940 to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941…Most will value Mr. Kaiser's clearly written narrative, which focuses on the improvisational planning of the president and the men around him.”

Washington Post
“Others have written about this period, but few with his precision and insight… His thoroughly researched and well-informed narrative of what happened on the road to war makes the book fully worth the cover price.”

Charleston Post & Courier
“Engaging and excellent.”

Choice
“Offering a fresh interpretation of a frequently treated topic…Because of such thorough research presented in lucid, straightforward prose, Kaiser's first-rate account offers material that even specialists in the field might find surprising and provocative.

From the Publisher

04/01/2014
While the literature on Franklin D. Roosevelt's (FDR) presidency is vast, there's less written on how he interacted with and led the military. Kaiser (The Road to Dallas) here covers that topic in detail from the fall of France in 1940 to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, showing a president clearly in charge of the armed forces and often more prescient about the world than were his soldiers. Kaiser shows FDR's leadership style, which kept the military on its toes, willing to challenge and override its often faulty recommendations. This work is a good antidote to the claims of conspiracy theorists who assert that FDR maneuvered the Japanese into bombing Pearl Harbor. The author tacks on a thesis based on William Strauss and Neil Howe's Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069, suggesting that FDR and his team were part of the "missionary generation," contributing to their success in dealing with Japan and Nazi Germany. It's a thought-provoking notion, but Kaiser's evidence is far from persuasive. VERDICT This book is unnecessary for scholars, but insufficiently compelling for general readers as the writing is wordy and dry. The latter would be better served by Nigel Hamilton's lively The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941–1942.—William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

Library Journal

2014-02-02
In the years leading up to World War II, America was fortunate to have Franklin Roosevelt as president, a prescient leader who anticipated our inevitable entry into the global conflict most Americans wanted to avoid. The subtitle is a bit misleading, implying that FDR either wanted war or stumbled into it. Neither fits Kaiser's (The Road to Dallas: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy, 2008, etc.) argument here. The author emerges as an unabashed fan of FDR in this detailed description and analysis of U.S. foreign policy from May 1940 to Pearl Harbor. Repeatedly, he pauses to praise the president. He also continually employs the concept of "Prophet generations" from the work of William Strauss and Neil Howe and places FDR (and some of his team) as an active member of the "Missionary generation" that valued order over chaos, the "scientific spirit" and "a more decent life for all." The academic tone is also evident in the author's fondness for categories and lists—and in its pervasive unsmiling prose. However, Kaiser's research is both comprehensive and illuminating. With aplomb, he leaps from Japan to Germany to Washington, D.C.; he analyzes the speeches delivered by FDR and others; and he sketches the backgrounds of many of the principal players, including Frank Knox, Henry M. Stimson and Harry Hopkins. The author shows how FDR led the military-industrial buildup (ships, weapons, atomic power), how he dealt with race in the military, how he battled the isolationists (led by Charles Lindbergh) and how he dealt with the British, who were desperate for help. The author pauses to relate some of FDR's personal life—his relationships with his wife and other women—but mostly keeps the focus on the preparation for war. An admiring, richly textured portrait of a leader confronting the unthinkable.

Kirkus Reviews