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achoward's review
5.0
Decades after WWI, the US people, and most of the US government, truly believed in Woodrow Wilson's insane and unworkable isolationism stance. I understand the wish to not be dragged into some war that's not yours to fight, but the US and everyone else on the planet have been globalists almost as soon as (most of) the map had been tentatively finalized. Backbiting Ambassadors too interested in their own machinations on higher office don't help.
Watching Darkness Fall is primarily the story of FDR - both a Wilsonian politician and charged with pulling the U out of the Great depression - and four of his Ambassadors, posted to offices in Europe. Of the four included in this book, only one seemed to understand the threat posed by Hitler in Germany, and the great conflagration he would cause: William Dodd. He warned FDR, early and often, that Hitler was going to be a problem to our allies (especially Great Britain and France) and potentially the world at large. The others - Breckenridge Long in Italy, William Bullitt in Russia and subsequently in France, and Joseph P. Kennedy - either heaped praise on a fascist while acting like a tourist (Long), wrote what amounted to love letters to FDR (seriously!) and constantly painted a pretty picture for him, even while things were falling apart, and had the audacity to think he could speak for the US or French(!) government when the leaders fled France, all the while angling for a job as head of the war department (Bullitt), or were anti-Semites, particularly uninterested in the plight of Jews in Germany (Long and Kennedy).
It isn't an easy read, particularly to start; there are names and history and political dealings thrown at the reader in order to set the stage. Presumably anyone reading this would have a basic understanding of the runup to WWII. If you do not, it will likely be fairly rough sailing, at least until all the characters are in place.
Once that's complete, however, it's easy to see - through letters, diaries, newspapers, and official government issues - just how ready some were to allow Europe and possibly even Russia go up in flames because no one really wanted to hear any bad news from abroad, much less help our own allies fight against a maniac. It's especially troubling to read Bullitt's missives. He was grossly unqualified and unprepared for the duty he accepted. Equally disgusting was Long, who deliberately held up visas for those fleeing to the US, especially Jews and even children, and Kennedy, who urged FDR to make people with Hitler.
The book ends rather abruptly, but by that point, I was tired of all of them and quite glad of it.
Five stars, no doubt in my mind.
Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the reading copy.
Watching Darkness Fall is primarily the story of FDR - both a Wilsonian politician and charged with pulling the U out of the Great depression - and four of his Ambassadors, posted to offices in Europe. Of the four included in this book, only one seemed to understand the threat posed by Hitler in Germany, and the great conflagration he would cause: William Dodd. He warned FDR, early and often, that Hitler was going to be a problem to our allies (especially Great Britain and France) and potentially the world at large. The others - Breckenridge Long in Italy, William Bullitt in Russia and subsequently in France, and Joseph P. Kennedy - either heaped praise on a fascist while acting like a tourist (Long), wrote what amounted to love letters to FDR (seriously!) and constantly painted a pretty picture for him, even while things were falling apart, and had the audacity to think he could speak for the US or French(!) government when the leaders fled France, all the while angling for a job as head of the war department (Bullitt), or were anti-Semites, particularly uninterested in the plight of Jews in Germany (Long and Kennedy).
It isn't an easy read, particularly to start; there are names and history and political dealings thrown at the reader in order to set the stage. Presumably anyone reading this would have a basic understanding of the runup to WWII. If you do not, it will likely be fairly rough sailing, at least until all the characters are in place.
Once that's complete, however, it's easy to see - through letters, diaries, newspapers, and official government issues - just how ready some were to allow Europe and possibly even Russia go up in flames because no one really wanted to hear any bad news from abroad, much less help our own allies fight against a maniac. It's especially troubling to read Bullitt's missives. He was grossly unqualified and unprepared for the duty he accepted. Equally disgusting was Long, who deliberately held up visas for those fleeing to the US, especially Jews and even children, and Kennedy, who urged FDR to make people with Hitler.
The book ends rather abruptly, but by that point, I was tired of all of them and quite glad of it.
Five stars, no doubt in my mind.
Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the reading copy.
socraticgadfly's review
3.0
Ideally, with half stars, a 3.5 star book. Since it's gotten way too many 5-star ratings, I bumped down.
Decently good on William Bullitt's service and on his various personal defects.
Pretty good on William Dodd, about whom I knew the basics. Decent on Joe Kennedy, about whom I knew plenty.
Biggest failing? Thin on Breckenridge Long as ambassador to Italy, and almost nothing on the details of his antisemitism as Asst Secretary of State afterward.
Decently good on William Bullitt's service and on his various personal defects.
Pretty good on William Dodd, about whom I knew the basics. Decent on Joe Kennedy, about whom I knew plenty.
Biggest failing? Thin on Breckenridge Long as ambassador to Italy, and almost nothing on the details of his antisemitism as Asst Secretary of State afterward.
bibliovino's review
4.0
Gripping behind the scenes portrait of the US governments response to the decent into chaos that was the time before WWII. We see through the eyes of FDR and his ambassadors in Europe as Hitler rises in power and the atrocities against the Jews rack up. It was so disturbing how even these world leaders and champions of democracy slipped into the banality of evil along with the rest of the world. They redeem themselves in the end, but don’t delude yourself into thinking it was all altruistic. Fascinating.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for my free copy. These opinions are my own.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press and Netgalley for my free copy. These opinions are my own.
kperry2281's review
5.0
I received this as an ARC through Netgalley. While I knew a bit about the US Ambassador to Germany, Dodd, from Beasts in the Garden and some other historical works, I did not know anything about the ambassadors to the other foreign countries before and during WWII. Watching Darkness Fall depicted the struggles in Europe and America during this tumultuous time period in history wonderfully. Where I learned the most was JFK's father being the Ambassador to England. This was an extremely informative read, but doesn't overwhelm you with so much that you feel lost.
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