The Allies

"...one of America’s great storytellers, Winston Groom paints a vivid portrait of men caught between the vise jaws of military necessity and political reality. Anecdotes about their personal lives, such as Stalin’s tumultuous family relationships and FDR’s struggle with polio, bring color to leaders we remember through black-and white photographs and newsreels. Churchill is a character tailor-made for Mr. Groom’s style, and he captures the English lion’s genius for inspiration in bold, beautiful strokes... It is the writing that gives “The Allies” its elemental charm. At its best, Mr. Groom tells an enthralling story of three nations, each wary of the others, and of three men who set aside deep differences for a common cause." –The Wall Street Journal “Groom brings his experience as both novelist and historian to bear in this well-researched and fast-paced narrative of the complex relationship among the three statesmen who determined the outcome of WWII…This is an excellent history.” –Publishers Weekly    “Novelist and historian Groom recounts the origins and fortunes of the grand alliance forged to battle the Axis powers in World War II.” –Kirkus  "Military historian (The Generals) and fiction writer Groom (Forrest Gump) presents an accessible work about the “Big Three” of World War II: Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. According to the author, who cites well-regarded secondary sources throughout this readable history, it was the brutal international conflict that led to this triumvirate rather than the compatibility of their personalities." –Library Journal "Knowledge of the Second World War and an understanding of the role played by the dominant personalities who shaped the war are fading from memory. For some, the war and its leaders are ancient history. Winston Groom’s The Allies will hopefully help a new generation learn about the heroics, the horrors, and the tragedies of World War II." –NY Journal of Books "Groom delivers concise, brisk, biographical sketches of the three individuals, raised in three widely separate and culturally varied places." –Tuscaloosa News "Novelist and historian Groom recounts the origins and fortunes of the grand alliance forged to battle the Axis powers in World War II." –Crossville Chronicle, Tennessee “Groom excels at capturing the flow of influence to action.” –Birmingham News "A superb history of the three leaders who guided the world during WWII: Franklin Roosevelt,  Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Not only did these three political giants direct the strategy of the war, they contributed to the future direction of the world by decisions made at the war’s conclusion. Although I have read books and viewed movies that detailed specific battles and places, Groom did a lovely job weaving a story that pulled the events together into a broad perspective which I thoroughly enjoyed. And as I have come to expect in all his histories, the anecdotes were fascinating and I learned new details about the characters and the events in play. A powerful story!" –Page and Palette  “That unholy marriage of convenience between the Americans and British and the Soviets against their common enemy, Nazi Germany, certainly changed the course of the war and all-but sealed Hitler’s fate. And it is a well-known one, which Groom tells well for a general audience.” –Vietnam Veterans of America "I particularly enjoyed how Groom presented the information in a nonchalant sort of way. He painted these figures as men, rather than mythical beings, with faults, and secrets, and personal age