1941: Fighting the Shadow War

A Divided America in a World at War

Marc Wortman

• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9780802125118
• eBook ISBN:
  9780802190321
• Topic: Histoire
• Subtopic: Histoire de l'Amérique du Nord

"A wide-ranging examination of America's entry into World War II." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
 
In 1941: Fighting the Shadow War, A Divided America in a World at War, historian Marc Wortman thrillingly explores the little-known history of America's clandestine involvement in World War II before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
 
Prior to that infamous day, America had long been involved in a shadow war. Winston Churchill, England's beleaguered new prime minister, pleaded with Franklin D. Roosevelt for help. FDR concocted ingenious ways to come to his aid, without breaking the Neutrality Acts. Launching Lend-Lease, conducting espionage at home and in South America to root out Nazi sympathizers, and waging undeclared war in the Atlantic, were just some of the tactics with which FDR battled Hitler in the shadows.
 
FDR also had to contend with growing isolationism and anti-Semitism as he tried to influence public opinion. While Americans were sympathetic to those being crushed under Axis power, they were unwilling to enter a foreign war. Wortman tells the story through the eyes of the powerful as well as ordinary citizens. Their stories weave throughout the intricate tapestry of events that unfold during the crucial year of 1941.
 
Combining military and political history, Wortman's "brisk narrative takes us across nations and oceans with a propulsive vigor that speeds the book along like a good thriller" ( The Wall Street Journal).
 
"A fascinating narrative of a domestic conflict presaging America's plunge into global war." — Booklist, starred review

Table of contents

• 1941
• Also by Marc Wortman
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Map
• 1941
• Introduction
• 1 Foreign Correspondents
• 2 A New World
• 3 "The Prophacy Comes True"
• 4 Unneutral Acts
• 5 Scooping Hitler
• 6 Blitzkrieg Propaganda
• 7 Shadowed by the G-Men
• 8 The Roosevelt Brand
• 9 Cassandra
• 10 A Rising Sun
• 11 Prairie Fire
• 12 "Aviation, Geography, and Race"
• 13 Indictments
• 14 The Garden Hose
• 15 How Do You Do?
• 16 Intolerance
• 17 Good Americanism
• 18 Living in a Nightmare
• 19 Volunteers
• 20 The Strongest Fortress in the World
• 21 Geographers
• 22 Son of a Harness Maker
• 23 The Obvious Conclusion
• 24 At Last We've Gotten Together
• 25 The Rattlesnakes of the Atlantic
• 26 Tenno
• 27 The Undeclared War
• 28 Son of Man, Son of God
• 29 East Wind, Rain
• Epilogue: Rendezvous with Destiny
• Acknowledgments
• Endnotes
• Picture Acknowledgments
• Index
• Back Cover