I had the opportunity recently to look through the book collection of a friend and fellow bibliophile. I found books on religion and philosophy. There are American classics like Twain and Faulkner. The books that I am looking at are not his entire library, only the ones that he left here in Oklahoma in the care of another friend. It is always interesting to see the path that someone takes by looking at what they have collected over the years. The first book from his collection that I read is one that I read years ago. “The Man Without a Country” by Edward Everett Hale. It’s a small book that was quickly read, but I enjoyed reacquainting myself with it after so many years. The next book that I borrowed is “Sanctuary” by William Faulkner. I’ll let you know how it goes. I also spotted a Winston Churchill memoir that will come home with me at some point. I might have taken the Churchill this time but I had just finished “The Citizens of London” and that is enough of World War II for now. The Citizens of London tells the story from a point of view that was different than any that I had read. In retrospect it’s easy to say that they should have done this or that but at the time they were dealing with issues that were either new to them or on a scale that they had never seen. Leaders of nations are by their nature used to being in charge. Churchill felt that since Britain had been in the war the longest that they should be given priority. Certainly had they not stood at the pointed end of the spear for so long and for the most part alone, the world might be a very different place. Great Britain held out long enough for the United States to finally get involved. Of course once the United States became involved, President Roosevelt felt that he should be in charge. Joseph Stalin wanted everything his way or the Soviet Union was simply going to do their own thing. It might seem like I am dogging these men but given the size of their egos and the scope of their undertaking, it amazes me that they worked together as well as they managed. Then you have the generals. I think putting General Eisenhower in charge of the allied armies was a stroke of genius. I cannot think of anyone else that could have managed the officers with which he had to fight a war. Each of them was convinced that he alone had the answer of how to win the war. “The Citizens of London” by Lynne Olsen is a good book and tells a great deal more than I covered in this description. It is well worth the reading for all of the students of history out there. The book also covers the interaction of the American service personnel and the citizens of Great Britain that lived around the bases that sprung up seemingly out of nowhere in preparation for the D-day invasion. In many cases the families had lost sons earlier in the war. Given the chance, I think that you would enjoy this book.
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