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One Christmas in Washington | 
 enlarge | Authors: David Bercuson, Holger H. Herwig
Publisher: Overlook Hardcover
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Rating:  12 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 1585674036
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.532241
EAN: 9781585674039
Publication Date: November 3, 2005
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Product Description
Christmas in Washington is the fascinating, in-depth look at one of the most crucial periods in modern history: the weeks between December 1941 and January 1942, when Churchill and Roosevelt--seemingly on the run after Dunkirk and Pearl Harbor--met at the White House, forging what turned out to be the Grand Alliance--while in the background, a gloomy and confused America went about with their Christmas celebrations. Christmas in Washington is an authoritative and emotional story of two proud and accomplished statesmen struggling to overcome biases, suspicion, and hubris to create what turned out to be the war-winning alliance.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Winston goes Christmas shopping July 27, 2008
Richard C. Geschke (Bristol, Ct)
Christmas 1941 was in an era before jet travel. In that era no World Leader traveled more than Winston Churchill. Winston dropped everything that he was doing after the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor, and packed up his General Staff and went to Washington. His mission was simple, that being to convince FDR and America to join in the defeat of Germany as a primary objective of the War. Japan was to be of secondary importance. It did help that Adolph Hitler made the decision easier with his declaration of War against the U.S.A. Mssr's Bercuson & Herwig take a rather poignant snapshot of the formation of the Allied grand strategy of World War II.
Winston convinces FDR to concentrate America's resources in first defeating Germany to save Europe. FDR is persuaded and action to that effect is taken. Mr. Churchill addresses a joint session of Congress and ultimately wins his strategy.
The book is well researched and readable. This period of Anglo-American relations is not really known. I found this book as a snapshot taken at a time of great confusion but resulted in a solid plan to conduct the War in an intelligent manner. Winston's take of this time is well documented in his book "The Grand Alliance", which remains the definitive study of this time period.
Four and a half stars... February 10, 2007
Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've read a bit about Christmas 1941 when Winston Churchill visited the White House to plot World War II strategy with Franklin Roosevelt. But until reading One Christmas in Washington: The Secret Meeting Between Roosevelt and Churchill That Changed the World by David Bercuson and Holger Herwig, I never realized what a monumental event this was.
The bulk of One Christmas in Washington takes place in Washington, DC. Americans were still stunned by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and were rather unorganized and unprepared to fight a war with Japan and Germany. Churchill planned to visit the White House despite the objections of almost all staff members on both sides of the pond. Most of what I read previously about this meeting involves funny stories and anecdotes--mostly about Churchill. He was a very demanding houseguest and liked things just a certain way (sherry with breakfast, scotch with lunch, champagne and brandy before bed, etc.). He also sparred verbally with Eleanor. But what I found so fascinating about this secret meeting (which became known as the Arcadia Conference) were the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that occurred during this 3 week span of time.
While Churchill and FDR were meeting, so did their staffs (both military and civilian). There was intense distrust and even dislike between the two camps. At the beginning, the Americans thought that the British were "arrogant know-it-alls" who "were only interested in poaching as much U.S. military hardware and troops as they could get." They also thought the Brits were selfish and untrustworthy. The British thought the Americans were "unorganized, bureaucratic, ignorant of the realities or the war." But halfway through the conference, the two sides realized they were in this war for the long haul and began to compromise and find common ground. Goals were established for the production of war goods. Priorities were set for a "rough war plan." Procedures for the Combined Chiefs of Staff were established, and the groundwork for the Declaration of the United Nations was laid.
One Christmas in Washington is an excellent book that shows just how important the Arcadia Conference was in establishing the "Grand Alliance," which allowed for the integrated efforts to defeat the Axis powers. "Had Churchill not seized the moment--before American war plans had solidified--it is more than likely that such a degree of integration would never have been achieved." My only complaint about One Christmas is that it contains way too many errors of spelling, grammar, typos, etc. With two college professors authoring this book, I would have expected this effort to be free from errors. For me, these flaws were the one thing that kept me from giving One Christmas a five star rating.
 Some Interesting Facts but As a Whole Disappointing September 17, 2006
L. M Young (Marietta, GA USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Perhaps I misread the description of this book. I found the Churchill visit and the negotiations interesting, but from the descriptions I had read of the volume I was expecting not only a narrative about the goings-on in Washington, but stories about how ordinary people reacted to the declaration of war, how the city and country changed, etc.
I feel I must comment about one thing I found very disconcerting: apparently no one proofread or spellchecked this manuscript. I saw numerous, jarring typos and several places where words were left out, so that I had to reread the sentence several times to try to make out what was being said. Very sloppy in such a heavily researched and scholarly book; did they rush it to the publisher in order to meet a deadline?
 One Christmas in Washington August 25, 2006
William D. Saunders (Weston, MA USA)
This book is a gem. It gives a fascinating behind the scenes
insight into the little known ARCADIA conference just after Pearl Harbor. Included are brief biographies of over a dozen major British and American war leaders plus some highly entertaining vignettes of Churchill raising havoc in the White House and dazzling the American public. The authors give a fascinating appraisal of FDR's opaque management style made moreso by the fact that he deliberately kept few written records.
Excellent fly-on-the-wall history July 5, 2006
Richard E. Hourula (Berkeley, CA. United States)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
For anyone who enjoyed Jon Meacham's "Franklin & Winston" "One Christmas in Washington" is the ideal follow up reading. The challenge for authors Bercusom and Herwig was the narrow time period period (barely two months) that their story covered. However they met this head on owing largely to copious research and their ability to flesh out some of the key figures besides the obvious two. (Indeed my only quibble was that they occasionally told more than I needed to know about a relatively minor figure).
It helps of course when the two principles are such larger than life figures as Churchill and FDR and that there are such momentous world events to discuss.
A great deal has been written about the events in December '41 and January '42 that precipitated and kicked off America's participation in World War II and the alliance then forged between the Us and Great Britain. "One Christmas in Washington" distills much of what we already know and enriches the tale with new evidence and its particular perspective.
The authors are particularly good at showing how allied leaders often quibbled and overcome differences in philosophy and one might even say culture, in creating the alliance that defeated the axis. Also, I've read a lot about FDR and some of Churchill (see the Cabinet War rooms and adjacent Churchill museum in London if you ever get the chance) and must laud the others for their portrayals of these two extraordinary men and the beginnings of their friendship.
The book traces Britain's plight as they stood alone against Nazi Germany. Churchill was desperate for American help and FDR was desperate to give it despite the prevailing isolationist mood in the country. With Japan's sneak attack on December 7, and Germany's foolhardy declaration of war against the US days later, the US was officially part of the second world war and, in an odd sort of way, FDR and Churchill had their wishes answered.
"One Christmas In Washington" takes us into the White House and the British cabinet, abroad a ship off Nova Scotia when the two first met and back to the White House for the dreary Yuletide of 1941. We read excerpts from diaries, letters and cables and listen in on dinner conversations. We follow Churchill to Canada then to Florida and hear what Hitler's gang has to say about Anglo-Americans.
"One Christmas in Washington" is another fine addition to the growing bodies of work on two great men and a terrible war.
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