海角大神

Lynne Olson is best known for 鈥淐itizens of London,鈥� her 2010 bestseller about Americans who lived in London during the early days of World War II 鈥� and their valor and ingenuity in advancing a US role in England鈥檚 success against the Nazis. She is also the author of 鈥淭roublesome Young Men,鈥� a 2007 chronicle of the upstart Tories who propelled Winston Churchill to the leadership of wartime Britain.

In Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America鈥檚 Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941, as in her earlier projects, Olson focuses on a handful of key figures to plumb the broader historical currents sweeping events toward a dramatic milestone. 鈥淭hose Angry Days鈥� also invites comparison to Olson鈥檚 other work in revisiting one of her abiding preoccupations: the intersection between politics and war.

鈥淭hose Angry Days鈥� takes its title from Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a New Deal Democrat and aide to John F. Kennedy who noted that the intensity of feeling regarding early US involvement in World War II has been largely forgotten. In the days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, when American interests in the widening global conflagration seemed less clear, the rift between isolationists and interventionists in the United States was wide and deep, said Schlesinger, who called the division 鈥渢he most savage聽political debate of my lifetime.鈥� He added this observation: 鈥淭here have been a number of fierce national quarrels 鈥� over communism in the later Forties, over McCarthyism in the Fifties, over Vietnam in the Sixties 鈥� but none so tore apart families and friendships as this fight.鈥�

As Olson notes in this absorbing chronicle, the bitterness of that debate has been obscured in postwar histories that focus on American unity and resolve after Dec. 7, 1941. In 鈥淭hose Angry Days,鈥� she assigns herself the task of recreating the splintered political climate of 1939-1941, when American policy toward the war was very much in a state of flux.

鈥淭hose Angry Days鈥� promises to benefit from some good timing, coming as it does on the heels of 鈥淟incoln,鈥� the widely discussed Steven Spielberg film in which a compelling moral ideal 鈥� in this case, racial equality 鈥� operates against a backdrop of political expedience and sordid compromises. In Olson鈥檚 story, the evolution of America鈥檚 role in World War II, a conflict now remembered as "The Good War" fought by "The Greatest Generation," reveals equally imperfect political realities.

Some of the most unflattering episodes in 鈥淭hose Angry Days鈥� involve Charles Lindbergh, the celebrated American aviator who used his international stature to argue against early American participation in the war. The book鈥檚 period photos include a snapshot of Lindbergh and wife Anne visiting Nazi Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering, one of numerous occasions in 鈥淭hose Angry Days鈥� when the reader winces at the thought of global terrors to come 鈥� and Lindbergh鈥檚 apparent blindness to the full implications of the聽Nazi regime. Even more unsettling is Olson鈥檚 detailed account of Lindbergh鈥檚 casual anti-Semitism, as when he blamed fledgling American pro-war sentiment at least partly on a Jewish media cabal.

But rather than demonizing Lindbergh, Olson parses the nuances of his early isolationism, noting that his reluctance to fight the Germans grew from several factors, including his conclusion that Nazi air power made diplomacy, rather than confrontation, the most practical way for Americans to address the European conflict before Pearl Harbor.

While not excusing Lindbergh鈥檚 racial views, Olson also notes that anti-Semitism was very much a part of his era, extending even to the White House, where Franklin Delano Roosevelt was known to make eye-rolling references to 鈥淗ebrew鈥� culture. Roosevelt takes some other lumps in 鈥淭hose Angry Days鈥� for his lack of clarity concerning global questions when Europe began to unravel. As a president elected for his command of domestic policy during the Great Depression, FDR had to dramatically sharpen his foreign policy skills on the job, an evolution in which his inexperience often showed, Olson contends. In the early days of Nazi expansion into Czechoslovakia, with 鈥渢he president making little or no attempt to persuade Americans that it was in the country鈥檚 best interests to help stop the dictators, the increasingly聽dire events in Europe only confirmed their determination to stay as far away from that hornet鈥檚 nest as possible,鈥� she writes.

Olson, a former journalist, proves especially resourceful at combing through newspaper archives to flesh out her narrative with evocative detail. She doesn鈥檛 so much revisit a historical period as inhabit it; her scenes flicker as urgently as a newsreel.聽 While highlighting Lindbergh and FDR as its stars, 鈥淭hose Angry Days鈥� embraces a cast of characters far beyond the book鈥檚 title characters. The story expands to include everyone from William Stephenson, an American-based operative for the British who partially inspired fictional spy James Bond, to young聽Theodor Geisel, whose cartoon spoof of Lindbergh鈥檚 isolationism helped hone the talents he鈥檇 bring to Dr Seuss.

About the end of this policy debate, we already know. The Japanese bombing of Hawaii brought America fully into World War II, fulfilling a famous Churchill quote that appears at the beginning of 鈥淭hose Angry Days.鈥�

鈥淵ou can always count on Americans to do the right thing,鈥� he declared, 鈥渁fter they鈥檝e tried everything else.鈥�

Danny Heitman, an author and a columnist for The Baton Rouge Advocate, is an adjunct professor at Louisiana State University鈥檚 Manship School of Mass Communication.