Posts Tagged ‘Lynne Olson’

Citizens of London by Lynne Olson

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

 

Citizens of London

Citizens of London is an account of the relationship between the Americans and British during WWII with an emphasis on the men who cultivated the alliance prior to the US’s official entry into the war.

The most influential of these men were the charismatic Edward R. Murrow, head of CBS News in Europe, ambitious millionaire Averell Harriman, head of the Lend-Lease program, and John Gilbert Winant, the idealistic US Ambassador to Britain.

The book is at its best when covering the political and personal machinations in which these three men engaged during their time in Europe. (All were romantically involved with members of Winston Churchill’s family.) Of the three, Winant is the one history seems to have forgotten, and his story is fascinating, and a little sad.

Enjoyable and a must read for WWII aficionados. I also highly recommend Olson’s book, Troublesome Young Men.

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Book Shopping in NYC

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

When in NYC last month, I visited my new favorite bookstore, Crawford Doyle. In addition to the usual bestsellers, CD offers a carefully curated selection of books not readily found at Costco or B&N. I scooped up the following four books immediately!

Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick

Inspired by The Ambassadors, Foreign Bodies is the story of schoolteacher Bea Nightingale. At the behest of her bossy brother, Bea travels to Europe to retrieve brother’s errant son and is irrevocably changed by the experience.

Author Cynthia Ozick is hardly an unknown writer (she was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Man Booker International Prize,) but I wasn’t familiar with her work. Having enjoyed this polished and poignant novel, I look forward to reading Ozick’s other novels.

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood With Britain in its Darkest, Finest Hour by Lynne Olson

Lynne Olson’s previous nonfiction book, Troublesome Young Men, is one of my favorites, so I eagerly added this to my purchases.

And The Show Went On: Cultural Life in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Alan Riding

How did the artists of Paris respond to the German occupation?  For many it was business as usual. Theaters, music halls, opera houses, haute couture businesses, and movie theaters reopened soon after the French surrender.

The creative community’s relationship with the occupiers not only shaped the cultural life of the city, but influenced each artist’s creative output, lifestyle, and reputation for years.

Westwood by Stella Gibbons

Stella Gibbons is best known (and often solely known) for her hugely successful comic novel Cold Comfort Farm. (Also a wonderful 1995 BBC film) In fact, Gibbons wrote 20 more novels one of which is Westwood. 

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Troublesome Young Men by Lynne Olson

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

In hindsight, Winston Churchill’s election to Prime Minister in May 1940 looks inevitable. In fact, as Lynne Olson brilliantly describes in her book Troublesome Young Men, Churchill’s election was no sure thing.

For two years, a band of renegade Tory MPs had been clamoring for the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, the architect of Britain’s policy of appeasement towards Germany. At great risk to their political future, these “troublesome young men,” among them Anthony Eden, Ronald Cartland, Leo Amery, and Harold Macmillan, opposed their own party.

Their visionary leadership and disregard for their personal ambitions is especially inspiring considering the social environment of the time. The House of Commons was a small world in1940. Most members of the Commons had known each other since childhood, attended the same schools, played the same sports, and were mostly related to each other. Disloyalty was a violation of the public-school ethos on which they had all been raised. Furthermore, many had family and business ties to Germany.

Even though we know the outcome, Olson creates a compelling story. The back room dealmaking, the infighting, and dramatic debates make this nonfiction account as exciting as a suspense novel.

One of my favorite moments takes place on May 7, 1940, when Leo Amery, a onetime close friend and political ally of Chamberlain, addresses the incumbent administration in the House of Commons. Quoting Oliver Cromwell, he says, “ ‘You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing! Depart, I say, and let us have done with you! In the name of God, go!’ “

Imagine that in the U.S. Senate!
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

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