Rating: 
Summary: Deceptive title
Review: I agree with a few others. This book is about Henry Morgenthau and his ideas. I was disappointed with how much he mentioned him way too much in this book. It was a turn-off and a deceptive book cover.
Rating: 
Summary: Beschloss does WW2
Review: Occasionally, you buy a book with the impression that it's one thing, and it turns out to be another. Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes it isn't. In the case of The Conquerors, it's generally a good thing, but I think the publisher and author could have been a bit more forthcoming with the title and cover of this book.The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany 1941-1945, isn't really about Roosevelt or Truman, mostly. Truman appears for the first time halfway through the book, and then only in passing. Only about the last quarter of the book is devoted to him. Roosevelt isn't that prominent in the first part of the book either. Instead, the book turns out to mostly be about Henry Morgenthau, Roosevelt's Jewish Secretary of the Treasury. Morgenthau, of course, was the one who espoused the plan that would have "pastoralized" Germany, dismantling the country's industry and replacing it with agriculture, at the war's end. The theory was that without heavy industry, Germany would be prevented from invading neighboring nations. There was also a component to the plan to split the country into it's component parts, the idea being that they would be less inclined to attack than a united Germany. Morgenthau's genesis of this idea, and its progress through the government over several years, is the backbone of the book. It's very interesting, don't get me wrong. I guess the problem is that Beschloss couldn't be seen doing a book on something so minor as the Morgenthau plan. I don't know. The book does contain a great deal of new and interesting information, especially on Roosevelt's interactions with various staffers, advisers, and cabinet meetings, on the situation with the Jews in Europe. Roosevelt comes off rather callous, trying to gauge the effect of a mass of Jewish refugees on the electorate rather than worrying about what the right thing to do is. Truman, once he enters the picture, turns out to have, in private, used anti-Jewish epithets strong enough Beschloss won't repeat them. The author does a wonderful job with the characters involved. Besides Morgenthau and the two presidents, we get sketches of Cordell Hull, Henry Stimson, and several other leaders of the World War II era. It's all well-done, if brief, as one reviewer noted. I would recommend this book, but only to people interest in the diplomatic side of World War II, and the Holocaust.
Rating: 
Summary: Once again a very US-centric view of the world
Review: After reading this book, as well as a few other written by US biogrophers, I wonder how children in this country ever get to understand the world at large. Sure, most countries and most civilizations are proud of their past and will obviously be biassed to some extent when describing many events. The problem here is that anyone reading many of the books written from a US stand-point leave one thinking that the rest of the world were, and still are, supporting cast. Hollywood has had the same effect.
I also read an account by Churchill many years ago. His account was obviously also biassed toward the part that the British played in the events of WWII, but he does credit the many allies with their part. The war was really between two groups of nations, not just the US and Nazi Germany with bit-parts played by the rest of the European and Asian nations.
Oh, YES, I am a US Citizen.
Rating: 
Summary: So it is Roosvevelt to blame
Review: Is it really Roosevelt to blame for what happened to the Jews? Maybe, but why did the writer ignore the rest of the story. "In 1938 a thirty-one nation conference was held in Evian, France, on resettlement of the victims of Nazism. The World Zionist Organization refused to participate, fearing that resettlement of Jews in other states would reduce the number available for Palestine." (Source: John Quigley, "Palestine and Israel: A Challenge to Justice.") Another example, out of many, on the missing part of the story is that, "[Ben-Gurion stated] 'If I knew that it was possible to save all the children of Germany by transporting them to England, but only half of them by transporting them to Palestine, I would choose the second - because we face not only the reckoning of those children, but the historical reckoning of the Jewish people.' In the wake of the Kristallnacht pogroms, Ben-Gurion commented that 'the human conscience' might bring various countries to open their doors to Jewish refugees from Germany. He saw this as a threat and warned: Source: 'Zionism is in danger.' "Israeli historian, Tom Segev, "The Seventh Million."
Rating: 
Summary: Should be required reading...
Review: Fascinating account of the personal and professional relationships between President Roosevelt and his Cabinet, and how FDR's policies affected world history. Beschloss says "Roosevelt's silence may have emboldened Nazis to pursue the Jews of Europe with greater vigor, presuming that they would have to pay no special postwar penalty for their offense in case the Allies won." A harsh indictment. This book is a must read for anyone wanting to understand WWII, Roosevelt, Truman, the history of Europe in the 20th century, and the Holocaust. Readers should keep in mind that it is one scholar's opinion.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling page-turner
Review: Michael Beschloss has done an excellent job in THE CONQUERORS. Not only has he mined many recently released documents for new and fascinating information, he has also managed to deliver that information in a highly interesting and well-paced fashion. Even if you have a short attention span when it comes to history, THE CONQUERORS is a page-turner. I'm not a big expert on FDR, but I was shocked at some of the things I learned in this book. Even with Mr. Beschloss giving FDR the benefit of the doubt as to his motives, it is still shocking to see what a blind spot he had about what was being done to millions of Jewish people in Hitler's concentration camps. I can't believe that a real leader couldn't have rallied the United States and the world in horror and revulsion at what was happening. Also troubling is the way in which FDR manipulated his Cabinet, especially his Treasury Secretary (and purported best friend) Henry Morganthau. Despite their friendship, Morganthau never really knew where he stood with FDR, professionally and personally. Morganthau was humiliated on a European trip to discuss Germany's post-war economy, when his British counterparts had to show him the minutes from a Churchill/FDR/Stalin meeting in Tehran where they discussed dividing Germany, because FDR never shared any of that information with him. When he would voice his concerns to the President, FDR would reel him back in with tales of them tending their farms and working on a nascent United Nations in their retirement. Once FDR died, Truman came in and humored him for a while, until he resigned. Obviously, since the scope of the book deals with defeating Germany in WW2, Truman's role in THE CONQUERORS is much smaller than that of FDR. Still, it is interesting (and frightening) to see how much Truman had to pick up so quickly, actually staying up late every night reading documents to get up to speed, because FDR kept his Vice President so completely out of the loop. This was the first book I've read by Michael Beschloss and I definitely am interested in checking out some of his other work because his writing style is very entertaining and his judgment is quite fair and objective.
Rating:
Summary: The secret is out
Review: This is a powerful book. You may ask yourself why the world needs another book about WWII as I did before I read this book. However, as I read my way through the book, I realized that I was becoming privy to information about FDR, Truman, Churchill, and Stalin that I had never seen before.
The book isn't kind to our leaders either. It confirms that Roosevelt did in fact drag his feet about acting on the murders of the Jewish population in Europe. New to my knowledge is the deep feelings Morgenthau harbored toward Roosevelt.
Well written and balanced in scope this is a must read to anyone interested in the major events of the second world war.
Rating:
Summary: Deceptive advertising
Review: This book does cover FDR and Truman and their decisions in WWII, but it's really an in depth analysis of Henry Morgenthau (Secy of Treasury) and his "Morgenthau Plan." I'm sure the title and book jacket were designed solely to generate sales because I'm sure not as many would buy it if they knew the true content of the book. The deception aside, the book does a thorough job of covering the conferences at Quebec, Yalta and Potsdam and the competing interests the US, UK and USSR had. But, if you're looking for real insight on FDR or Truman, look somewhere else.
Rating:
Summary: A stunning and exciting pageturner
Review: Sometimes a book comes along that makes you see an important time in history in a whole new way. That is what Conquerors did for me. Now I understand why the war took such a long time to fight against Nazi Germany and why it cost so many English and American soldiers' lives. I did not know that Franklin D. Roosevelt was so mean to the people who were his employees, and I didn't know that Truman said such anti-Semitic things to his friends and when he wrote in his daily diary. Still they were great Presidents, and Beschloss is able to describe both the good and bad sides of these men and their big events, as well as those of Hitler, Stalin and Churchill. The author is fair and yet he writes with the excitement of an author writing novels.
Rating:
Summary: Over-hyped
Review: This is a bit of let down. While the title, art, and blurb lead you belive this book is all about the presidential actions and thoughts during the destruction of Nazi Germany, it is really the account of the Treasury Secretary Henry Morganthau. While it does offer snippets of conversations with both presidents and some insight on actions they took and did not take, it is a far cry from a tick-tock of the war or even the process at the WH. Best evidence? Morganthau gets 4 columns in the index, Roosevelt 1.5.
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