Caught between Roosevelt and Stalin: America's Ambassadors to Moscow
by Dennis J. Dunn
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Book Summary Information
Author: Dennis J. DunnEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1997-12-24
ISBN: 0813120233
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Book Reviews of Caught between Roosevelt and Stalin: America's Ambassadors to Moscow
Book Review: Excellently done
Summary: 5 Stars
Examining Soviet-American relations by studying the lives of the various ambassadors Roosevelt dispatched to Moscow is an especially clever device, and one that has not been used by anyone else. Dr. Dunn has done an excellent job: his writing style flows nicely and his research is first-rate. In addition to being highly informative, this book is simply good to read.This book would be useful to anyone who seeks to understand the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States during the 1930s and 40s. It also helps illustrate how the Soviet Union worked and gives interesting insight into the personality of Stalin himself.
People who are particularly fond of Franklin Roosevelt might not like some of Dr. Dunn's conclusions, however. Be warned.
Summary of Caught between Roosevelt and Stalin: America's Ambassadors to Moscow
On November 16, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs Maxim Litvinov signed an agreement establishing diplomatic ties between the United States and the Soviet Union. Two days later Roosevelt named the first of five ambassadors he would place in Moscow between 1933 and 1945. The story of these ambassadors and their relationship with Roosevelt and Stalin is one of intense drama and lasting importance. More than fifty years after his death, Roosevelt's foreign policy, especially regarding the Soviet Union, remains a subject of intense debate. Dennis Dunn explains for the first time the apparent confusion and contradiction in Roosevelt's policy -- one moment publicizing the four freedoms and the Atlantic Charter and the next moment giving tacit approval to Stalin's control of parts of Eastern Europe and northeast Asia. Dunn argues that "Rooseveltism", the president's belief that the Soviet Union and the United States were both developing into modern social democracies, blinded him to the true nature of Stalin's brutal dictatorship despite repeated warnings from the American ambassadors in Moscow. Focusing on the ambassadors themselves -- William C. Bullitt, Joseph E. Davies, Laurence A. Steinhardt, William C. Standley, and W. Averell Harriman -- Dunn details the bruising arguments over Roosevelt's policy of concessions toward Stalin. Drawing upon extensive research in the newly opened Soviet archives, Dunn reveals new information on Stalin's policy toward the United States and his reactions to Roosevelt's decisions. Personal interviews, including a conversation with the late W. Averell Harriman, help to emphasize the importance of the ambassadors' keyadvisors, including George F. Kennan and Gen. Philip Faymonville, known to his American military peers as the "Red General" for his unconditional support of Stalin. Showing the impact that accommodation of Stalin had on Eastern Europe, Asia, and the United Sates, Dunn offers thought-provoking observations, on the origins of the Cold War and the nature of American-Soviet relations.United States Books
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