Franklin and Winston Review

Remarkable insight to perhaps the two most important figures in the 20th century. "W" is portrayed as the loyal friend for life-- an eternal optimist who delivered Britian from its darkest hour with the help from his sometimes aloof, and not so loyal Roosevelt, whom the author paints as long on charm, but sometimes as more opportunist than friend. The strong bonds that developed in the early years of the war between these men began to diverge during the pre-'44 plans for D-day, with Roosevelt loosening his ties with Churchill, to curry favor from Stalin. Stalin needed a Normandy diversion to ease Nazi pressure on the eastern front while Roosevelt, unable to predict completion of the Manhattan project, needed access to strategic Soviet airfields in Siberia for America's war against Japan. Churchill, on the other hand, mindful of the complexity of a channel naval invasion (and mindful of hard naval lessons past learned), was not quite ready to stomach the sacrifice in men that was sure to occur at D-day, at least not so soon as the proposed May '44 invasion. The fact that "F" and "W" disagreed is understandable, but the listener is left with a sense of regret that our "great" American president could have been more forthright and less political with the man who viewed Roosevelt among his closest friends. Franklin's cozy relations with "Uncle Joe" are made more distasteful by our retrospective view of the tyrant, a view, in fairness, Roosevelt did not have. While the "F" and "W" relationship was complex, and not completely devoid of emotion by Roosevelt, the traits of confidence and ego which made the "leader" Roosevelt, perhaps prevented the type of fraternal relationship we might have wished for them in retrospect. The author is masterful in providing us with the human frailties among the bundle of traits which made these men great. A very good listen indeed!

29 people found this helpful

Disappointed at lack of insight

I had high hopes for this volume and although I enjoyed it I do not feel I understand the two men any better than before. I did come away with a distaste for Roosevelt, who seemed cruel and purposefully devious, and more respectful for Churchill, who seemed to really make an effort to form a personal bond with a man who was not capable of returning such emotions. The author seemed simply to recite what he found, rather than interpreting the data, and I felt overall the book was rather thin.

7 people found this helpful

Very Worthwhile

As one who has read Churchill's volumes on the Second World War and numerous other books related to the war years, I was skeptical that this book would offer me anything new or particularly interesting. I was wrong. The book offers a fresh understanding of the depth and importance of the personal relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt. It had its ups and downs, but it was an extraordinarily close and affectionate friendship. The relationship was critical to bolstering British morale in the early part of the war and played a key role in the strategic decisions that led to ultimate victory. It was a relationship that set the pattern for the close collaborations on military matters we have seen in subsequent years between the American and British leaders when their interests were aligned (think Reagan-Thatcher; Bush-Thatcher; and Bush-Blair).

Meacham's writing style flows well. His commentary is thoughtful and credible and shows a personal touch. He brings insights to each situation that ably complement the letters, cables, interviews and other first-hand sources that he cites.

6 people found this helpful

Excellent Companion to Churchill Biography

I listened to this book after hearing Roy Jenkins' excellent biography of Churchill (also on Audible) and found it a fine companion. I highly recommend listening to the Churchill biography before tackling this book. I found the narration excellent. Highly recommended.

10 people found this helpful

Gossipy and a bit dull

Overall, I liked the book. It has a lot of interesting anecdotal material, which I greatly enjoyed knowing. But the way the book is arranged is distracting and it jumps around between historical fact and quaint anecdote in a way that makes it seem trite in places. You have to pay attention to really get anything of depth from it. But if you persist, you'll probably like the book. The narrator has a style that sort of reminds you of a political commentator on TV. But he doesn't aggravate and his voice is clear.

4 people found this helpful

Excellent, but standardized history

Perhaps my disappointment in this work was because of an expectation -- that a scholarly work of this depth, after SO much has been written about these men before, would rightly reveal some new perspective or alternate interpretation of them. As such, I did not finish the book, although I did get as far as America's entry into World War II. No mention was made as to whether either Churchill or Roosevelt knew more about the impending attack on Pearl Harbor, even if only to impeach such theories. I was begging for this book to tell me something outside what conventional historical records shows. The narration for this type of hisrical work was very "audible" and well read.

8 people found this helpful

Franklin and Winston Review

Outstanding analysis of the relationship between two key leaders of the Twentieth Century. For a full appreciation of the background of Churchill's interaction with Roosevelt, 'CHURCHILL" by Roy Jenkins is a must read.

6 people found this helpful

Not much left unplowed in that field

Franklin and Winston covers the relationship between Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill prior to and during World War II. This is not a new subject and has been covered so extensively by other books that Churchill, when told by Mr Meacham that he was writing this book, responded with the quote in the headline for this review - There is not much left unplowed in that field - and that is indeed the truth. There is little in this book that has not been covered earlier in other books or even in general histories of the European Theater of World War II.

The book covers Mr Churchill's wooing of President Roosevelt when he, Churchill, realized that winning the war against the Germans would require entry of the US, his constant requests that the US enter the war, his friendship with Roosevelt after the US entry and the progress of that friendship as the war progressed. While most of this material has been covered in other books (as far back as 1975 in Mr Lash's Roosevelt and Churchill, and perhaps more interestingly in William Manchester's three volume biography of Winston Churchill), this book does have the advantage of viewing Franklin Roosevelt in a more dispassionate light than some of the earlier books.

One of the topics covered in this book are the meetings between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin and Mr Meacham does a service to the public by his coverage of the Yalta conference and it is painful to read how Roosevelt, deciding that he could win Stalin's approval by making fun of Churchill, first spurns Churchill before the conference and then proceeds to humiliate him during the conference by joining Stalin in making fun of Churchill while he, Churchill, was standing right there and forced to listen.Here we see Churchill, perhaps the greatest political figure of the 20th century and the single man responsible for the actions that led to the fall of Hitler, being made fun of by his supposed ally and friend, and it is embarrassing for an American to listen to.

As with other information in this book, this is not the first time this material has been covered, but it was the first time I have thought that the writer treated the material in an unbiased way. Considering the honest way that Roosevelt's behavior is described, he (Roosevelt) seems to have lost the aura of 'greatness' in Meacham's view and that has colored the way Roosevelt's actions during the war has usually been presented.

The narration by Grover Gardner is, as always in this type of book, superb and I recommend this book to those who have no in-depth view of this subject. However, for those who have read any of the many other books covering this topic the book is more optional. Interesting, but not much new.

2 people found this helpful

Historial Review

This wonderfully indebt book tended to get long, and sometimes I wished for more of the personal stories during the horrors of war. While this important historical relationship forever changed the world, this reader found the book slow and redundant. However, both Franklin and Winston gained respect and gratitude, and I did learn a lot about their lives and their relationship, as well as their wives and families.

8 people found this helpful

Not worth the time.

There are other books about these men that are better listens. This is a very boring listen.