Officially, America entered World War II on December 8, 1941 the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but even before that infamous day America had been at war. Long before, Franklin D. Roosevelt had been supporting the Allies. While Americans were sympathetic to the people being crushed under the Axis powers, they were unwilling to enter a foreign war. FDR knew he had to fight against isolationism, anti-Semitism, and the scars of World War I, and win the war of public sentiment. In 1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War, Marc Wortman explores the complex, contentious, and portentous journey of America’s entry into World War II.
FDR used all the powers at his disposal, from helping Winston Churchill and the British Navy with loans and American naval patrols, to espionage at home and abroad, to battle with Hitler in the shadows. To gain public opinion, the largest obstacle was Charles Lindbergh and his Committee for America First with its following of thousands. Wortman tracks journalist Philip Johnson and William Shirer as they report on the invasion of Poland: one a Nazi sympathizer, the other fervently anti-Nazi. Johnson and Shirer’s story are threads woven throughout the book--as is the undeclared war FDR waged against Japan and Hitler. Combining military and political history, 1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War tells the story of how FDR led the country to war.
1941: Fighting the Shadow War, A Divided America in a World at War (Atlantic Monthly Press) and is now available. Read Vanity Fair's excerpt at: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/philip-johnson-nazi-architect-marc-wortman
Praise for Marc's new book 1941: Fighting the Shadow War, A Divided America in a World at War
“Engrossing… [1941 is] an absorbing world-wide epic set in that pivotal year. … Mr. Wortman’s brisk narrative takes us across nations and oceans with a propulsive vigor that speeds the book along like a good thriller.”
―Wall Street Journal
"Book of the Month" and "MHM Recommends": "1941 is a good read...a different take on a familiar story. A very useful book for those with a serious interest in the period. Recommended."
―Military History Monthly
"...a great book: plenty of detail, much of it new or told in a refreshing manner."
―BBC History Magazine
"A wide-ranging examination of America’s entry into World War II as the Franklin Roosevelt administration juggled the demands of an isolationist Congress and voices urging early intervention....The author displays a nice sense of the dramatic scene and a solid ear for telling quotes, and ample documentation gives readers the opportunity to look further into the history. Even readers familiar with the broad history of the era are likely to find new insights and new details of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that preceded Pearl Harbor. An engaging and well-researched look behind the scenes of an important historic era. Highly recommended."
―Kirkus (Starred) Reviews
"In this probing chronicle of that tense year, Wortman illuminates the largely forgotten politics of a time when a fractured America debated the wisdom of joining the Allied cause in WWII. Readers watch as Charles Lindbergh and other isolationists intensify fears of American military involvement, playing on anti-Semitic prejudices. But they will marvel at how FDR outmaneuvers his political adversaries, giving rash public assurances that he will not send American forces into foreign combat, while simultaneously collaborating quietly with British intelligence officers as they covertly manipulate congressional elections involving isolationists. Of course, the public opinion that FDR seeks to shape bears the marks of prominent journalists, two of whom Wortman attends to with particular care: Philip Johnson, whose sympathies for the Nazis set him against FDR, and William Shirer, whose up-close European encounters with Hitler’s minions align him with the president. A fascinating narrative of a domestic conflict presaging America’s plunge into global war."
―Booklist (Starred) Review
"It is likely that anyone reading this account of the maneuvering to get the United States into—or keep the United States out of—World War II knows the outcome. However, 1941 author Marc Wortman still makes his story a genuine page-turner. America’s declarations of war against Japan, Germany, and Italy may have been a geopolitical inevitability, but in Wortman’s hands the push and pull of the forces leading to that momentous point hum with the pulsating energy of a cliffhanger."
―World War II Magazine and History.net
"...in his admirable work of popular narrative history... Roosevelt’s delicate balance between global strategy and domestic politics is superbly depicted by Wortman."
―Winnepeg (Canada) Free Press
"Wortman’s skillfully constructed, fast-paced narrative operates on many levels... Wortman gives a superb account of the way in which FDR used Harry Hopkins on trips to Great Britain and the Soviet Union in 1941 to reach out to Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin and to measure their determination to stay in the war."
―Brown Alumni Magazine
"This startling look at the indecisiveness of America's 'Greatest Generation'...still recovering from the first Great War and unsure about a second...reminds us that the choice was not so easy and clear-cut."
―New Haven Magazine
"Like the rumble of thunder before a storm, Marc Wortman's 1941: Fighting the Shadow War creates a mesmerizing sense of ominous and terrifying foreboding. This is the fascinating story of the global war that most Americans know almost nothing about: the bitter and even deadly struggle pitting American against American as the United States confronted Hitler and Japan before our country's actual entrance into World War II. There were heroes and villains and, as Wortman depicts so richly up to Pearl Harbor, nobody knew who would win."
―Nathaniel Philbrick, winner of the National Book Award for In the Heart of the Sea
"Marc Wortman's 1941: Fighting the Shadow War tells the story of America's plunge into World War II in a way that is smart, suspenseful, and full of surprising historical twists. 1941 has the sweep and intimacy of an epic novel and the pace of a military thriller."
―Debby Applegate, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher
"The story of Mr Roosevelt's Hidden War on Nazi Germany and support of the British effort in 1940-1941 has been told before, of course, but not I think with such verve and delightful panache as in Marc Wortman's new book. Its strength lies in his blend of characters high and low, from FDR and his highest confidantes to a normal family at Pearl Harbor to the U.S. journalists in Berlin as they saw war advancing across Europe and, then, towards America itself. It's a smart book, and a great read."
―Paul Kennedy, J. Richardson Dilworth Professor of History at Yale University, and author of The Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War
"Narrated with panache and a fastidious eye for detail, Wortman’s 1941: Fighting the Shadow War tells how FDR ingeniously helped Churchill by any means he could without breaking the Neutrality Act. Beset by furious, powerful domestic rivalries, who had the country in their grip, they were bested only when Pearl Harbor was attacked. An on-the-edge-of-your-chair thriller."
―Geoffrey Wolff, author of The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum, and most recently A Day at the Beach
"With the skills of a mosaicist, Marc Wortman creates a fresh portrait of the most crucial year of the war, when the United States became the “arsenal of democracy,” when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, and when the nation had its rendezvous with destiny at Pearl Harbor. Wortman brings into a single view both the war abroad and the “shadow war” at home between supporters and opponents of American intervention, a battle that continued until the end of that tumultuous year."
―Susan Dunn, author of 1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler—the Election Amid the Storm
FDR used all the powers at his disposal, from helping Winston Churchill and the British Navy with loans and American naval patrols, to espionage at home and abroad, to battle with Hitler in the shadows. To gain public opinion, the largest obstacle was Charles Lindbergh and his Committee for America First with its following of thousands. Wortman tracks journalist Philip Johnson and William Shirer as they report on the invasion of Poland: one a Nazi sympathizer, the other fervently anti-Nazi. Johnson and Shirer’s story are threads woven throughout the book--as is the undeclared war FDR waged against Japan and Hitler. Combining military and political history, 1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War tells the story of how FDR led the country to war.
1941: Fighting the Shadow War, A Divided America in a World at War (Atlantic Monthly Press) and is now available. Read Vanity Fair's excerpt at: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/philip-johnson-nazi-architect-marc-wortman
Praise for Marc's new book 1941: Fighting the Shadow War, A Divided America in a World at War
“Engrossing… [1941 is] an absorbing world-wide epic set in that pivotal year. … Mr. Wortman’s brisk narrative takes us across nations and oceans with a propulsive vigor that speeds the book along like a good thriller.”
―Wall Street Journal
"Book of the Month" and "MHM Recommends": "1941 is a good read...a different take on a familiar story. A very useful book for those with a serious interest in the period. Recommended."
―Military History Monthly
"...a great book: plenty of detail, much of it new or told in a refreshing manner."
―BBC History Magazine
"A wide-ranging examination of America’s entry into World War II as the Franklin Roosevelt administration juggled the demands of an isolationist Congress and voices urging early intervention....The author displays a nice sense of the dramatic scene and a solid ear for telling quotes, and ample documentation gives readers the opportunity to look further into the history. Even readers familiar with the broad history of the era are likely to find new insights and new details of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that preceded Pearl Harbor. An engaging and well-researched look behind the scenes of an important historic era. Highly recommended."
―Kirkus (Starred) Reviews
"In this probing chronicle of that tense year, Wortman illuminates the largely forgotten politics of a time when a fractured America debated the wisdom of joining the Allied cause in WWII. Readers watch as Charles Lindbergh and other isolationists intensify fears of American military involvement, playing on anti-Semitic prejudices. But they will marvel at how FDR outmaneuvers his political adversaries, giving rash public assurances that he will not send American forces into foreign combat, while simultaneously collaborating quietly with British intelligence officers as they covertly manipulate congressional elections involving isolationists. Of course, the public opinion that FDR seeks to shape bears the marks of prominent journalists, two of whom Wortman attends to with particular care: Philip Johnson, whose sympathies for the Nazis set him against FDR, and William Shirer, whose up-close European encounters with Hitler’s minions align him with the president. A fascinating narrative of a domestic conflict presaging America’s plunge into global war."
―Booklist (Starred) Review
"It is likely that anyone reading this account of the maneuvering to get the United States into—or keep the United States out of—World War II knows the outcome. However, 1941 author Marc Wortman still makes his story a genuine page-turner. America’s declarations of war against Japan, Germany, and Italy may have been a geopolitical inevitability, but in Wortman’s hands the push and pull of the forces leading to that momentous point hum with the pulsating energy of a cliffhanger."
―World War II Magazine and History.net
"...in his admirable work of popular narrative history... Roosevelt’s delicate balance between global strategy and domestic politics is superbly depicted by Wortman."
―Winnepeg (Canada) Free Press
"Wortman’s skillfully constructed, fast-paced narrative operates on many levels... Wortman gives a superb account of the way in which FDR used Harry Hopkins on trips to Great Britain and the Soviet Union in 1941 to reach out to Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin and to measure their determination to stay in the war."
―Brown Alumni Magazine
"This startling look at the indecisiveness of America's 'Greatest Generation'...still recovering from the first Great War and unsure about a second...reminds us that the choice was not so easy and clear-cut."
―New Haven Magazine
"Like the rumble of thunder before a storm, Marc Wortman's 1941: Fighting the Shadow War creates a mesmerizing sense of ominous and terrifying foreboding. This is the fascinating story of the global war that most Americans know almost nothing about: the bitter and even deadly struggle pitting American against American as the United States confronted Hitler and Japan before our country's actual entrance into World War II. There were heroes and villains and, as Wortman depicts so richly up to Pearl Harbor, nobody knew who would win."
―Nathaniel Philbrick, winner of the National Book Award for In the Heart of the Sea
"Marc Wortman's 1941: Fighting the Shadow War tells the story of America's plunge into World War II in a way that is smart, suspenseful, and full of surprising historical twists. 1941 has the sweep and intimacy of an epic novel and the pace of a military thriller."
―Debby Applegate, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher
"The story of Mr Roosevelt's Hidden War on Nazi Germany and support of the British effort in 1940-1941 has been told before, of course, but not I think with such verve and delightful panache as in Marc Wortman's new book. Its strength lies in his blend of characters high and low, from FDR and his highest confidantes to a normal family at Pearl Harbor to the U.S. journalists in Berlin as they saw war advancing across Europe and, then, towards America itself. It's a smart book, and a great read."
―Paul Kennedy, J. Richardson Dilworth Professor of History at Yale University, and author of The Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War
"Narrated with panache and a fastidious eye for detail, Wortman’s 1941: Fighting the Shadow War tells how FDR ingeniously helped Churchill by any means he could without breaking the Neutrality Act. Beset by furious, powerful domestic rivalries, who had the country in their grip, they were bested only when Pearl Harbor was attacked. An on-the-edge-of-your-chair thriller."
―Geoffrey Wolff, author of The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum, and most recently A Day at the Beach
"With the skills of a mosaicist, Marc Wortman creates a fresh portrait of the most crucial year of the war, when the United States became the “arsenal of democracy,” when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, and when the nation had its rendezvous with destiny at Pearl Harbor. Wortman brings into a single view both the war abroad and the “shadow war” at home between supporters and opponents of American intervention, a battle that continued until the end of that tumultuous year."
―Susan Dunn, author of 1940: FDR, Willkie, Lindbergh, Hitler—the Election Amid the Storm
