Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Darkest, Finest Hour - Hardcover

"Citizens of London is a great read about the small band of Americans and their courageous role in helping Britain through the darkest days of early World War II. I thought I knew a lot about that dangerous period but Lynne Olson has taught me so much more."--Tom Brokaw "Brilliantly bursting with beautiful prose, Olson flutters our hearts by capturing the essence of the public and private lives of those who faced death, touched the precipice, hung on by their eyelids, and saved the free world from destruction by the forces of evil." --Bill Gardner, New Hampshire Secretary of State "In this engaging and original book, Lynne Olson tells the story of the Americans who did the New World credit by giving their all to help Churchill's Britain hold on against Hitler. Rich in anecdote and analysis, this is a terrific work of history.--Jon Meacham, author of "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House" "Like any good history book, this is a reminder: a reminder of how some Americans came to London and rallied to Britain's cause in 1940 and 1941--that is before Pearl Harbor, when Hitler's Germany came very close to winning the Second World War. Citizens of London is really two books in one: a detailed record of what an American ambassador (John Gilbert Winant), a Roosevelt appointee (Averell Harriman) and American broadcaster (Edward R. Murrow) did for the British--and, yes, also for the American--cause. At the same time, it is a detailed account of American/British relations through the War, another tale that is not simple." --John Lukacs, author of "Five Days in London: May 1940" "This is history at its most personal and compelling, a group portrait of three fascinating individuals--Winant, Harriman, and Murrow--whose lives intersected at a pivotal moment in the 20th century, when the fates of America and Britain were interlocked. The result is what the English call 'a rollicking read.'"--Strobe Talbott, author of "The Great Exper

In her latest book, Lynne Olson focuses again on Britain in World War II, this time from an American perspective. This is the engrossing behind-the-scenes story of how the United States and Britain forged their crucial wartime alliance, as seen from the viewpoint of three key American players in London. Drawing from a wide variety of primary sources, Olson depicts the personal journeys of these men, who, determined to save Britain from Hitler, helped convince a cautious Franklin Roosevelt and reluctant American public to back the British at a critical time. The three- Edward R. Murrow, the handsome, chain-smoking head of CBS News in Europe; Averell Harriman, the hard-driving millionaire who ran FDR's Lend-Lease program in London; and John Gilbert Winant, the shy, idealistic U.S. ambassador to Britain - formed close ties with Winston Churchill and were drawn into Churchill's official and family circles. So intense were their relationships with the Churchills that all of them were involved romantically with members of the prime minister's family: Harriman and Murrow with Churchill's daughter-in-law, Pamela, and Winant with his favorite daughter, Sarah. Citizens of London, however, is more than the deeply human story of these three Americans and the world leaders they aided and influenced. Above all, it's a rich, panoramic tale of two cities: Washington, D.C., a lazy Southern town slowly growing into a hub of international power, and London, a staid, class-conscious capital transformed by war into a vibrant cosmopolitan metropolis, humming with energy, romance, excitement, and danger. To those who spent time in wartime Britain, the country seemed like a kind of Brigadoon -- a magical place where courage, resolution, sacrifice, and sense of unity and common purpose triumphed. About the Author Olson is former White House correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, and author of Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England.