Roosevelt’s Road to Russia

Book excerpt: Many people will be made angry by this book. They will be angry first at its author for daring to attack the memory of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Then, as they read with an increasing sense of shame this shocking story of the summit conferences of World War II, they will be moved to anger at F.D.R. himself. The trust which the American people bestowed in the leadership of Roosevelt is a matter of historical record. The manner in which the four-times President used that trust is only little by little coming to be realized. The truth is that ever since “victory” was won, western civilization has been at bay, with men everywhere preparing for new wars. What went wrong? Was there a monstrous miscalculation? Bad faith in high places? Incompetence? What really happened at the fateful summit conferences of World War II? The documents, notes, and memoirs of men who were there—at Casablanca, Teheran, and Yalta and the others—how now dredged up the pieces of a horrendous jigsaw puzzle. ROOSEVELT’S ROAD TO RUSSIA, for the first time, puts the pieces together. “Crocker has presented this sad epoch in American history more interestingly and more competently than any previous writer...[he] gives the first complete picture of just how and why we lost the peace...[it] is an important contribution to the history of our times. We are in danger of being deceived by Khrushchev as Roosevelt was deceived by Stalin. Let us read this record as Crocker has faithfully compiled it and heed the warning!”—H. V. Kaltenhorn “A tale of colossal incompetence, monstrous misunderstanding, outrages of freedom...it should be read by everyone who wants to understand the world today.”—The Chicago Tribune “...a scholarly brief with all the logic and persuasion of a grand jury presentation...”—Columbus Dispatch