Unconditional Surrender: The Policy That Prolonged World War II

Here, from New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Thomas Fleming, is the seldom-told account of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s policy toward the Axis powers during World War II. Driven by his dislike of the German people, the president, with encouragement from his Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., insisted on a strategy that settled for nothing less than unconditional surrender. That strategy not only prolonged the war but cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of additional lives.

Fleming makes a convincing case that Roosevelt’s exceedingly harsh policy ironically guaranteed that the Germans would never surrender, even in the face of certain defeat. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, though upset with FDR at times, was no strong defender of a more humane and conciliatory approach. This fascinating account of these events adds to our understanding of the personalities and politics of the time.