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

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Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour ReviewIt is with no small amount of irony that the words Thomas Paine used to rail against a Britain who had an "army to enforce her tyranny" so aptly describes the aura captured in Lynne Olson's "Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood With Britain in its Darkest, Finest, Hour." But it is must be no coincidence to Ms. Olson that those few U.S. citizens who did stand with Britain during the dark days of the fall of France, the 57 consecutive nights of the bombing of London (and cities throughout the UK) from September 7, 1940 through May 10, 1941, and the evisceration of British merchant shipping by U-Boats in the North Atlantic richly deserve Paine's view that those "that stand by it now, deserve[s] the love and thanks of man and woman."
In Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England, Olson told the story of the small group of Conservative MPs who opposed Neville Chamberlain's policy of appeasement toward Hitler's Germany from the mid-1930s until Churchill's accession to power. Olson's focus on a small group of relative unknowns (at least as far as an American audience is concerned) provided a valuable perspective of the era of appeasement and the premiership of Neville Chamberlain. Similarly, in "Citizens of London", Olson focuses on a small group of U.S. citizens resident in the U.K. who saw earlier than their compatriots that Britain's battle would soon be their own and who found it within themselves to do everything possible to aid a nation on the brink of starvation and despair. In so doing she provides valuable perspective on U.S.-British relations which are often cast(like the policy of appeasement) in the most superficial way.
The three `Yank' citizens were Averell Harriman, Edward R. Murrow, and John Gilbert Winant. Of the three, Harriman and Murrow's stories were known to me. Harriman, a child of wealth and privilege, was by all-accounts up to his time in the U.K. something of a cavalier playboy. He wasn't known for his substance at all but did manage to secure the position as the director of the U.S. lend-lease program in England. Murrow rose from relatively lowly beginnings to become the man whose radio broadcasts during the Blitz helped transform U.S. popular opinion from its isolationist base and in so doing created a remarkable news organization. Gilbert's story was unknown to me. A prep-school and Princeton graduate Gilbert succeeded Joe Kennedy as U.S. ambassador to England. Taken together the lives of these three men and the story of how their time in London resulted in the substantial transformation of their lives as well as the lives of the peoples they shared a war with constitute a pretty remarkable story.
Olson's book works admirably well. Although impeccably researched it remains an easily-read and digested work of history. I think the strongest aspect of the book is the fact that despite its rather heroic title this is no hagiographic treatment of three men on a white horse coming to rescues a helpless nation. Similarly, Olson's treatment of the overriding relationship between the U.S. and Britain is not cast in the light of the firm and eternal `special relationship' in which there was no tension or conflict. The relationship was no easy thing and Olson discusses the flaws and troubles that flowed from that relationship with a critical, even-handed eye.
On the (slightly) negative side I think there is some small loss of focus in the latter third of the book. The story of three men `standing with Britain' gets a bit swallowed up once the U.S. enters the war and millions of men and tons of materiel begin to flood Britain. Needless to say I think that diffusion reflects accurately what happened but the respect and admiration that these men obtained (particularly Winant) did endure. Despite that the book holds up throughout and by the time I was finished I felt I had gained a fuller understanding of the times that tried Britain's soul.
If I had to pick one aspect of the book that will stay with me the longest though it will not be that of the big picture painted by Olson. Rather, it will be of the portrait of the one man, John Gilbert Winant, whose story was totally unknown to me. His story astonished me and moved me as his life played out in the book and I was saddened by the fact that his story seems to have faded from our collective consciousness. For that alone (although there are other reasons to be sure) I hope this book is read and enjoyed by a broad audience. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig
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