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I did not receive a free book - or any other emolument - in return for writing this review. On the other hand - truth in advertising - Jim Lacey is an admired friend and sometime colleague. In The Washington War, he has comprehensively and for the most part very effectively dealt with a too-little examined aspect of a war otherwise bountifully explored.
If you had to characterize Lacey’s description of the U.S. government’s preparation for and conduct of World War II in a single sentence, it would be with the proverb of the dancing bear: what was remarkable wasn’t that he danced so awkwardly but rather that he danced at all. Lacey’s narrative describes a government almost constantly at war with itself when not at war with its allies. In Lacey’s drama, the Germans and Japanese seem almost bit players.
Much of that infighting reflected and resulted from the personality and behavior of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who approached the challenge of resourcing a global war with the instincts of a mafia don (no implication of currency unintended). In fairness, the problems facing FDR and his subordinates, both civilian and military, were unprecedented. No nation had ever attempted to fight on such a scale, never mind sustain logistically not only its own far-flung forces but also those of allies whose interests often coincided neither with ours nor with each other’s. That, in consequence, global military operations were a product of improvisation at least as much as strategic intention was attributable as much to U.S. decision-makers’ inevitable learning curve as to the machinations of the enemy.
Despite which the bear ended up dancing so well that the U.S. ended the war richer, more powerful, and - perhaps to a fault - far more self-confident than when it entered it. If what followed was less welcome than the dream of universal amity animating Roosevelt’s final months, it may in part have been because, as Assistant Secretary of War John McCloy commented long afterward, “We concentrated so heavily on the actual conduct of the war that we overlooked the need for political thinking.” That’s a problem with which today’s strategists certainly can identify.
If there’s a fault with The Washington War, it’s the challenge of keeping track of all the players. I found myself constantly referring back to the capsule bios with which Lacey helpfully introduced the book, to earlier appearances in text, or both. I’m glad that I chose to read the Kindle edition with its useful search assistant, saving a pad of Post-It markers. That chore, however, detracted not at all from the pleasure of reading and learning from Lacey’s fascinating narrative. Highly recommended.
- Hardcover: 592 pages
- Publisher: Bantam (May 28, 2019)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345547586
- ISBN-13: 978-0345547583
- Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.4 x 9.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Customer Reviews: 19 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#510,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1700 in WWII Biographies
- #1653 in US Presidents
- #1205 in United States Executive Government
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