Customer Reviews

19 Weeks: America, Britain, and the Fateful Summer of 1940

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This work should be required reading for anyone with an interest in World War II and the roles played by Britain and the United States in the 20th century. The buildup to the focus on the summer of 1940 is probably the best brief synopsis of Allied/German politics from 1919 to 1940 available today, and even now author Moss surprises with relatively hidden facts and devastating analyses. Unfortunately the low number of positive ratings on the reviews clearly signifies that this is not a popular or widely read book. But it should be.

For example, how many Americans know that the US did not approve the Versailles Treaty but negotiated and signed a separate peace treaty with Germany in 1921? Or that England was essentially broke after World War I and heavily in debt to the US? Or that the US forgave the vast majority of the debt owed by European nations to it after World War I? Or that England could have signed a treaty with Hitler in 1940 that would have left England much in the same position it enjoyed in 1805 when Europe was under Napoleon? Or that Churchill rejected overtures to that treaty knowing full well that England's survival depended on it being rescued by the United States and that such a rescue would eliminate Great Britain as a world power and catapult the US into becoming the dominant world power? In a phrase, Great Britain had protected the US during its days of expansion by inforcing the Monroe Doctrine, and now the US would protect Great Britain from all threats to its security.

Moss makes clear the respective roles of Great Britain and the US during this period. Great Britain was the experienced, diplomatic leader while the US supplied resources, and production and later, manpower. In a sense, they were in the roles of parent and child, and the very great danger to England was that the US would demand (or take) the leadership role away from Great Britain by virtue of its position of power. Indeed, that was what happened, without, however, British personnel such as Brooke, Alexander and Montgomery, deriding, abusing, and belittling American leadership as long as they could. Even today, the "British Empire Syndrome" is alive and well with British authors, politicians and people indulgently consider Americans to be rather like fractious adolescents all too well aware of their wealth and power. It is to the author's credit, as someone born and raised in Britain, that he presents those attitutes and problems fairly and without taking sides.

The author points out the revulsion for US involvement in European wars that was felt in the US until Pearl Harbor. Most Americans felt their entry into World War I had been a mistake, brought about by British propaganda, Wilson's moralizing, and German strategic errors. Indeed, it probably was (see "Wilson's War" by Powell, "Echoes of Distant Thunder" by Ellis and "Savage Peace" by Hagedorn.) Now British propaganda was beating an anti-German drum again, and Roosevelt was forced to tread lightly and work behind the scenes. Conscription was introduced in September, 1940, but proposed in a bi-partisan manner without Roosevelt taking the lead. Bill 1776, the Lead-Lease bill, would follow early in 1941, opposed by mothers carrying placards saying, "Kill Bill 1776 Not Our Boys: (Life's Picture History of World War II, page 77). That the nation was going down the slippery slope was evident to all.

The majority of this book deals with summer of 1940 as advertised exploring the German successes, the international situation, British and American politics, and the British/American relationship. Somehow Moss does that in detail without boring the reader. That this was a pivotal time in world history is proven beyond all doubt by the author.

The only part I thought was overdone was that Britain was in danger of an invasion. Even if the RAF had lost the Battle of Britain, Hitler's Operation Sea Lion was half-hearted, and not really in his game plan. His eyes were on the East, always had been and always would be, and even the quick war against France was merely to protect his rear. As Moss pointed out, Hitler would probably have granted England generous terms to eliminate it as a belligerent. His terms for France were seen to be less draconian than expected, and there was no reason that England would have been excessively humbled.

Moss's conclusions were thought-provoking. What would have happened if Britain had entered into a treaty with Nazi Germany that summer? Is it possible that Germany would have changed over the years like the Soviet Union did during the Cold War? Could Germany ever have given up Fascism and become democratic without a war? Britain could have avoided becoming bankrupt and suffering heavy casualties, and possibly even retained its empire. But would it have been better off? Maybe that will be Moss's next book. If so, I will buy it.

The account of what England went through following Dunkirk, prior to the U.S or Russia entering the war is an extra ordinary story. In May 1940 Hitler invaded France and by June the British had evacuated Dunkirk, leaving behind 1000 guns but saving 300,000 soldiers to fight another day. England was alone, Churchill's "Fortress" which he vowed Hitler would have to `contend with'. All seemed lost, with more then 10 nations under the Nazis Yoke all of Europe was under Fascist rule. But these 19 weeks showed the resolve, not only in England, but also in America of the English Speaking brethren to defend the world from evil. Here we have the story of two men, FDR and Churchill, prepared to fight to the last to save the free world from the world of communist or fascist domination. This is wonderful telling of this story. From the skies over London to the radar stations in Dover to the America First party to the halls of Congress a wonderful tale of politics and diplomacy and public opinion is told. In the end it was these 19 weeks which saved the world, literally.

Seth J. Frantzman

Norman Moss's "19 Weeks" (England and America in the Fateful Summer of 1940) appears to be influenced by John Lukacs' "5 Days in London, May 1940." The pivotal drama in both books is the British decision to not deal with Hitler during of after the debacle at Dunkirk, but to stand and fight until North America entered the war on Britain's side. This decision was a self-sacrificial one on Bratain's part, because it cost them their empire and their status as a world super power. But as both Moss and Lukacs emphasize, the world is a much better place because they made the choice they did.

Moss expands the context of this decision to encompass the whole summer of 1940, from Hitler's invasion of France in May to the successful conclusion of the Battle of Britain in September. (Hence the title, "19 Weeks.") Moss also looks back in time to WW I and forward in time to Hitler's declaring war on the U.S. on December 11th 1941. This narrative filled in many features of the story left blank by Kukacs' much more compressed temporal boundaries. Moss includes the struggle between the interenationalists and the isolationists in the U.S., a struggle with culminated in the Republican selection of the internationalist Wendell Willkie to run against Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election. Britain won over American public opinion by the shere power of its moral stand against fascism. But that battle was not really won until after Roosevelt was re-elected.

One fact which I learned from Moss was that Roosevelt's sale of Infantry arms to Britain immediately after Dunkirk included 500 French 75 artillery pieces as well as 500,000 Enfield rifles and 500 mortars and machine guns (along with lots of ammo). The rifles and machine guns were of little help to the British Army, as the American 30-06 round was completely incompatible with the British 303 round. The rifles were used mainly to arm the Home Guard and for training. But the artillery pieces and mortars were crucial for re-constituting the post-Dunkirk British Army, as the British lost all their artillery and other heavy equipment on the beaches at Dunkirk. Lukacs never mentioned anything beyond the sale of the rifles.

In one lapse of fact, Moss refers to the German attack on London in 1944 my means of "flying bombs" and "V-1 and V-2 rockets." That seems to betray ignorance of the fact that V-1's were flying bombs, not rockets. I can only hope that was a slip and the rest of the book is as factually sound as it seems to be.

Fred Hallberg

Excellent book, explaining mostly the politics leading to the American entry into WWII. I was interested in the period mainly because of a BBC series, "Foyle's War", which I have greatly enjoyed. The book kept me interested by reviewing the principle characters' personalities, not just a dry history that said in May, 1940 Churchill did this.... Sometimes, it's not so easy for the decision-maker on the spot to come up with the right answers. Norman Moss explains this "Fog of War" leading up to hostilities and into the first year of the war in Europe. I highly recommend this book for people interested in the period.

This book focuses on Britain's role in the lead up and beginning of World War II. The critical relationship of Roosevelt and Churchill is thoroughly explored. Given the ridiculous redundancy of books concerning D-Day, this is a most welcome addition to the relatively neglected, but critical, role of Britain as the only western, democratic nation opposing the Germans until the entry of the US in 1941. The book is very readable and covers the importance of influencing public opinion rather than the military details of the engagements. The book details the gradual shift of the relationship between Britain and the US. Britain was a superpower at the start of the war but the US supplanted it as a result of the war. Britain's dependence on US assistance is carefully explored. Very highly recommended.

"The world changed forever during nineteen weeks in the spring and summer of 1940," Moss begins in this stupendous history of Britain and America, Churchill and Roosevelt, and "ordinary" people in both countries who wanted peace but faced up to war. The period can be precisely measured, Moss writes, dating from May 10 - the day Germany began the blitz into France and Churchill became Prime Minister. The fateful decisions made in this short span boggle the mind. It is hard to imagine a time so fraught with peril for the democratic ideal or one in which men and women rose to such great heights to defend it. When asked what year of his long and dramatic life he would live again, Churchill replied, "1940, every time." These 19 weeks also gave us some of the greatest political oratory ever, almost all from Churchill. No matter how familiar this story is to the reader, Moss's account of war in Europe, politics in America and the relationship between the two is absolutely gripping.

As a youngster, my understanding of World War II was when the United States formally entered after Pearl Harbor. Only some years later did it become clear that formal war declarations began almost twenty-seven months earlier, in September 1939. It seems likely that many Americans, especially with our poor or incomplete knowledge of history labored (and some continue to labor on) under the same misconception.

Moss does a wonderful job of filling such a gap in an understanding of the Great War. There was a 27-month delay between England's declaration of war on Germany and Germany's declaration of war on America (Another refresher: On December 8, America declared war on Japan, not Germany; four days later, Germany declared war on the United States for the Nazi ally.). More critical the conduct of the war were these nineteen weeks of 1940, generally commencing with the escape from Dunkirk in May and concluding with the deciphered message in late September that Hitler had called off the airborne invasion troops, signifying the delay (and, eventually, cancellation) of the invasion of England across the English Channel.

Under the Nazi wave of terror, England and much of the world were pretty grim in early 1940. Moss shows how much of the change foe the better came about from the slow if certain evolution of America from an isolationist country, to an anti-Nazi sentiment, to a pretty solid pro-British sentiment by late 1940. At one desperate moment, England and France considered unifying under a single government. Even the pessimism of Joe Kennedy, the American ambassador to England and father of future president John Kennedy, could not match the determination of the English. This was their "finest hour" and Winston Churchill personified their ability to stand up to the seemingly inevitable Nazi win.

More than sixty years have passed and it leaves some believing that eventual Allied victory was preordained. While the seeds of victory were planted in acts like the miraculous Dunkirk exodus, the decision by Roosevelt to send fifty desperately needed destroyers to submarine-ravaged England, and the strategic misfire by Hitler to leave behind the RAF airfields and to bomb English cities, victory was no foregone conclusion, no Hollywood-like heroics just waiting to be written. This was a highly uncertain, life-and-death struggle.

When the Blitz - a shift to terror bombing of London -- commenced in early September 1940, much of London life went on, albeit with some adjustments. Morale remained persistently high. Few people cracked under the pressure, despite the unprecedented bombing deaths of first hundreds and then thousands of English began. Some people relished the uncertainty and the struggle to survive and to triumph. The adrenalin ran high despite the grey, smoky days and flame-filled nights. By war's end, twenty percent of English casualties were civilian, many of them living in their own homes. By German and English estimates as to the devastation produced were too high. Economies and people managed to work through the worst imaginable. Using diaries, newspapers, public opinion polls and observations, Moss weaves a highly readable tale of life, shifting from continental Europe as the early stages of the war unfold, and moving to England and America during that fateful summer, focusing primarily on Roosevelt and Churchill but, more enlighteningly, offering detailed glimpses of domestic policies and people in both countries doing that critical time. From British propaganda to an analysis of the isolationist and pro-British movements, Moss creates a time and place feel for that summer which, by all accounts, was a glorious, dry, blue English summer that year. Another note: With war, the daily weather forecasts became a matter of national security, so most Englishmen could only experience the weather, not hear a forecast. The end of the war marked the return of broadcast weather forecasts.

Moss has to start a bit slowly. These nineteen weeks are preceded by years of recrimination and stubbornness resulting fro the first Great War. He explains the context for these memorable nineteen weeks. Most important to our generation and to history, he shows that perseverance in the face of adversity was not only critical, it was not always welcomed. Many soon-to-be-Allies - French, English and American -- would have accepted a peace with Germany in 1940, mostly in German terms. Few would have predicted in that same year that the tables would turn completely within five years. Moss provides a useful, smooth (although by now also pretty well known to many and well known to historians of this war), journalistic coverage of this important time.

The period between Nazi German's conquest of France in 1940 and the U.S. entrance into the war at the end of 1941 has always fascinated me: the political controversy over appeasement vs. confrontation with the Nazis, Chamberlain vs. Churchill, Britain's preparations for a likely German invasion, the evacuation of British children, the heroism of the RAF, the stoicism of Londoners beneath the bombs, along with, on these shores, the gradual shift in public sentiment from isolationism and neutrality to a growing empathy with Britain -- all of this has always seemed to me the most stirring period in 20th-century history. Norman Moss's book is a wonderful, readable, moving introduction to it, and, as a longtime American Anglophile and WWII buff, I found it impossible to put down.

I just finished 19 Weeks. It's great. Moss focuses on a pivotal moment in world history, the summer of 1940, when Britain stood alone against the Nazi war machine and the US teetered on the brink of joining her. It's thorough, rich in historical detail and a page turner. We get both the broad sweep of world events and the evocative detail. The evacuation at Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and the nuanced dance between Churchill and Roosevelt come alive through anecdotes, recollections of those involved and most of all through the author's lively prose and deep appreciation for the singular importance of this summer.

I cannot yet speak to the accuracy of this book, as I am only just starting to get into the history of World War II.

I can say that I find this book very easy to read overall. While at the beginning the writing style is a little rough (paragraphs are not really tied together, thoughts are at times presented rather abruptly with quick changes in topics) as the book progresses it improves dramatically.

I will say that while the Author makes an admirable try at remaining neutral, at times his opinions do become blatantly obvious.

Overall, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about this period of time.