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Sign up todayAmerica First
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Learn moreBestselling historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist H. W. Brands narrates the fierce debate over America's role in the world in the runup to World War II through its two most important figures: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who advocated intervention, and his isolationist nemesis, aviator and popular hero Charles Lindbergh.
Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 launched a momentous period of decision-making for the United States. With fascism rampant abroad, should America take responsibility for its defeat?
For popular hero Charles Lindbergh, saying no to another world war only twenty years after the first was the obvious answer. Lindbergh had become famous and adored around the world after his historic first flight over the Atlantic in 1927. In the years since, he had emerged as a vocal critic of American involvement overseas, rallying Americans against foreign war as the leading spokesman the America First Committee.
While Hitler advanced across Europe and threatened the British Isles, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt struggled to turn the tide of public opinion. With great effort, political shrewdness and outright deception—aided by secret British disinformation efforts in America—FDR readied the country for war. He pushed the US onto the world stage where it has stayed ever since.
In this gripping narrative, H.W. Brands sheds light on a crucial tipping point in American history and depicts the making of a legendary president.
H. W. BRANDS holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin. He has written more than a dozen biographies and histories, including The General vs. the President, a New York Times bestseller, and Founding Partisans, his most recent book. Two of his biographies, The First American and Traitor to His Class, were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize.
Reviews
“[O]ne of the most relevant books to read for this year’s presidential campaign. . . . [H]is straightforward history is an important guide for understanding the legacy of the movement that Lindbergh led.” — AP News“An immersive account of America’s fierce debate about joining World War II . . . [Brands] makes several authorial choices that render his account distinctive.” — The Washington Post
“America First is an insightful and worthy addition to the growing body of literature on the heated battle over American involvement in World War II . . . In an era more susceptible than ever to cults of personality elevating the foolish and the dangerous, America First recounts a cautionary tale well worth knowing.” — New York Journal of Books
"A fine account of one of the most famous opponents to America’s entrance into World War II...Another winner from Brands."—Kirkus Reviews *starred review*
"Brands puts both his strong narrative sense and engaging prose style to good use. The story deftly moves back and forth between the perspectives of the two men, giving room to fully convey the arguments each made as the debate followed events on the ground. Brands’ conclusion about foreign policy puts the debate in a broader context, relevant to Americans today."—Booklist
"Brands’s elegant account of the political faceoff between Franklin Roosevelt and Charles Lindbergh could not be more timely. This book sheds fascinating new light on Roosevelt’s battle against the tenacious efforts of the America First movement to keep the United States far away from World War II. In so doing, it provides critical historical insight into the heated debate currently building between internationalists and today’s America First isolationists."—Charles A. Kupchan, Georgetown University and Council on Foreign Relations, author of Isolationism: A History of America’s Efforts to Shield Itself from the World
"America First is a gripping historical tale of how two towering figures, Charles Lindbergh and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, debated the wisdom of America entering World War II. The narrative echoes, and should inform, today’s debate America’s role in the world, as today’s proponents of 'America First' seek to undo what FDR accomplished: Placing America at the center for the world stage."—Ivo Daalder, Chicago Council on Global Affairs and former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Expand reviews
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