FDR's Ambassadors and the Diplomacy of Crisis
From the Rise of Hitler to the End of World War II

A fascinating history of American diplomacy in the Second World War and the ways US ambassadors shaped formal foreign policy.

David Mayers (Author)

9781107031265, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 November 2012

384 pages, 12 b/w illus.
23.6 x 16 x 2.2 cm, 0.75 kg

'… a fascinating perspective on a crucial moment in time. Yet, arguably the bigger contribution is his innovative approach to diplomatic history, examining it 'as a whole', and, in the process, offering a new and more complete picture of a President's foreign policy. He has led the way with a method we should all hope will be applied to other presidents and events so as to properly mine available material for deeper insights as to the relationship of structure and agency, executive and diplomat, theory and practice.' International History Review

What effect did personality and circumstance have on US foreign policy during World War II? This incisive account of US envoys residing in the major belligerent countries – Japan, Germany, Italy, China, France, Great Britain, USSR – highlights the fascinating role played by such diplomats as Joseph Grew, William Dodd, William Bullitt, Joseph Kennedy and W. Averell Harriman. Between Hitler's 1933 ascent to power and the 1945 bombing of Nagasaki, US ambassadors sculpted formal policy – occasionally deliberately, other times inadvertently – giving shape and meaning not always intended by Franklin D. Roosevelt or predicted by his principal advisors. From appeasement to the Holocaust and the onset of the Cold War, David Mayers examines the complicated interaction between policy, as conceived in Washington, and implementation on the ground in Europe and Asia. By so doing, he also sheds needed light on the fragility, ambiguities and enduring urgency of diplomacy and its crucial function in international politics.

Introduction
Part I. Axis: 1. Rising sun
2. Third Reich
3. New Roman Empire
Part II. Victims: 4. Middle Kingdom
5. France Agonistes
Part III. Victors: 6. Britannia
7. Great Patriotic War
8. Conclusions: US diplomacy and war
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], 21st century history: from c 2000 - [HBLX], General & world history [HBG], History [HB]