Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “beautifully written and superbly researched dual biography” (Los Angeles Times Book Review), Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer Jon Meacham “paints a powerful portrait of the enormous friendship between World War II allies [Franklin] Roosevelt and [Winston] Churchill” (Vanity Fair).
“Intense and compelling reading.”—The Washington Post
Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were the greatest leaders of “the Greatest Generation.” In Franklin and Winston, Jon Meacham explores the fascinating relationship between the two men who piloted the free world to victory in World War II.
Born in the nineteenth century and molders of the twentieth and twenty-first, Roosevelt and Churchill had much in common. In their own time both men were underestimated, dismissed as arrogant, and faced skeptics in their own nations—yet both magnificently rose to the central challenges of the twentieth century. Theirs was a kind of love story, with an emotional Churchill courting an elusive Roosevelt. The British prime minister, who rallied his nation in its darkest hour, standing alone against Adolf Hitler, was always somewhat insecure about his place in FDR’s affections—which was the way Roosevelt wanted it. A man of secrets, FDR liked to keep people off balance, including his wife, Eleanor, his White House aides—and Winston Churchill.
Meacham’s sources—including unpublished letters of FDR’ s great secret love, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, the papers of Pamela Churchill Harriman, and interviews with people who were in FDR and Churchill’s joint company—shed light on the characters of both men as he engagingly chronicles the hours in which they decided the course of the struggle.
Charting the personal drama behind the discussions of strategy and statecraft, Meacham has written the definitive account of the most remarkable friendship of the modern age.
“Intense and compelling reading.”—The Washington Post
Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill were the greatest leaders of “the Greatest Generation.” In Franklin and Winston, Jon Meacham explores the fascinating relationship between the two men who piloted the free world to victory in World War II.
Born in the nineteenth century and molders of the twentieth and twenty-first, Roosevelt and Churchill had much in common. In their own time both men were underestimated, dismissed as arrogant, and faced skeptics in their own nations—yet both magnificently rose to the central challenges of the twentieth century. Theirs was a kind of love story, with an emotional Churchill courting an elusive Roosevelt. The British prime minister, who rallied his nation in its darkest hour, standing alone against Adolf Hitler, was always somewhat insecure about his place in FDR’s affections—which was the way Roosevelt wanted it. A man of secrets, FDR liked to keep people off balance, including his wife, Eleanor, his White House aides—and Winston Churchill.
Meacham’s sources—including unpublished letters of FDR’ s great secret love, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, the papers of Pamela Churchill Harriman, and interviews with people who were in FDR and Churchill’s joint company—shed light on the characters of both men as he engagingly chronicles the hours in which they decided the course of the struggle.
Charting the personal drama behind the discussions of strategy and statecraft, Meacham has written the definitive account of the most remarkable friendship of the modern age.
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Community Reviews
Having read [a:William Manchester|11789|William Manchester|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1236378075p2/11789.jpg]'s 3-volume biography of Winston Churchill ([b:The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Visions of Glory 1874-1932|19809|The Last Lion Winston Spencer Churchill Visions of Glory 1874-1932|William Manchester|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1384736532s/19809.jpg|6460954], [b:The Last Lion 2: Winston Spencer Churchill Alone 1932-40|4793151|The Last Lion 2 Winston Spencer Churchill Alone 1932-40|William Manchester|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1347625198s/4793151.jpg|6170357], [b:The Last Lion 3: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965|746673|The Last Lion 3 Winston Spencer Churchill Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965 (The Last Lion, #3)|William Manchester|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1440718926s/746673.jpg|21512278]) as well as several books about Franklin Roosevelt (most notably, [b:No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II|18728|No Ordinary Time Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt The Home Front in World War II|Doris Kearns Goodwin|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1423756471s/18728.jpg|963376] by [a:Doris Kearns Goodwin|1476|Doris Kearns Goodwin|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1533042194p2/1476.jpg]), it was nice to come across the book specifically about their friendship over the years.
Meacham provides a kind of brief, comparative biography of the principal's lives up to when they meet. What I enjoyed most about the book was the behind-the-scenes look at two world leaders at one of the most pivotal times in history and how it impacted them. Together they put up a brave front. Churchill, in my view, comes across as more emotional, and more stressed. But then Germany was at his doorstep for six years. Roosevelt seems more aloof and more politically savvy.
There are plenty of humorous anecdotes about Churchill that I wonder how many are apocryphal. My favorite was Churchill's encounter with Atlee in the men's room at Parliament one day. But what moved me most, and perhaps what says the most about their relationship was Churchill's reaction to the Roosevelt's death and the speech he made to Parliament in its aftermath.
In some ways this book is similar to [b:Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson|34426782|Friends Divided John Adams and Thomas Jefferson|Gordon S Wood|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1498821469s/34426782.jpg|55422814] by [a:Gordon S Wood|15583414|Gordon S Wood|https:s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Like that book, it can be read without knowing much about Roosevelt or Churchill, but the more you know about them going into the book, the more enjoyable it is.
Meacham provides a kind of brief, comparative biography of the principal's lives up to when they meet. What I enjoyed most about the book was the behind-the-scenes look at two world leaders at one of the most pivotal times in history and how it impacted them. Together they put up a brave front. Churchill, in my view, comes across as more emotional, and more stressed. But then Germany was at his doorstep for six years. Roosevelt seems more aloof and more politically savvy.
There are plenty of humorous anecdotes about Churchill that I wonder how many are apocryphal. My favorite was Churchill's encounter with Atlee in the men's room at Parliament one day. But what moved me most, and perhaps what says the most about their relationship was Churchill's reaction to the Roosevelt's death and the speech he made to Parliament in its aftermath.
In some ways this book is similar to [b:Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson|34426782|Friends Divided John Adams and Thomas Jefferson|Gordon S Wood|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1498821469s/34426782.jpg|55422814] by [a:Gordon S Wood|15583414|Gordon S Wood|https:s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. Like that book, it can be read without knowing much about Roosevelt or Churchill, but the more you know about them going into the book, the more enjoyable it is.
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