Author:S. M. Plokhy
Imagine you could eavesdrop on a dinner party with three of the most fascinating historical figures of all time. In this landmark book, a gifted Harvard historian puts you in the room with Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt as they meet at a climactic turning point in the war to hash out the terms of the peace.
The ink wasn't dry when the recriminations began. The conservatives who hated Roosevelt's New Deal accused him of selling out. Was he too sick? Did he give too much in exchange for Stalin's promise to join the war against Japan? Could he have done better in Eastern Europe? Both Left and Right would blame Yalta for beginning the Cold War.
Plokhy's conclusions, based on unprecedented archival research, are surprising. He goes against conventional wisdom-cemented during the Cold War- and argues that an ailing Roosevelt did better than we think. Much has been made of FDR's handling of the Depression; here we see him as wartime chief. Yalta is authoritative, original, vividly- written narrative history, and is sure to appeal to fans of Margaret MacMillan's bestseller Paris 1919.
The end of the Cold War has given scholars a chance to step back and take a more dispassionate look at those eight consequential days in February 1945. It is hard to imagine anyone doing so better than S.M. Plokhy in 'Yalta: The Price of Peace' ... colorful and gripping ...
—— The Wall Street JournalHarvard historian S.M. Plokhy has produced a gripping narrative of the eight days in February 1945 when the Big Three - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin - convened the Yalta summit as World War II raged on.
—— The Boston GlobeMy father had a profound influence on me. He was a lunatic.
—— Spike MilliganA moving vignette about [the war's] tragic price for one family
—— Max Hastings , Sunday TimesA moving testament to the bravery and sacrifice of one British family
—— Daily MailA splendid and absorbing book
—— London Review of BooksThe sort of book that will have social historians salivating
—— Literary ReviewA strangely liberating and liberated catalogue of everyday grumbles, both great and small
—— Mail on SundayHis story deserves not just revival but reflection ... Karski's electrifying words still speak only too eloquently for themselves
—— Marek Kohn , IndependentThe searing experiences of Berliners are brought to life through often deeply morally compromised personal stories
—— Financial Times, Christmas round upMoorhouse has a deep knowledge of wartime Germany...he has a nice eye for social detail
—— Sunday TimesMoorhouse has written an extraordinarily detailed account of ordinary life in Berlin during the Second World War
—— Sunday HeraldThere's a pounding quietness to Moorhouse's description of life in Berlin
—— Vera Rule , GuardianA well-researched, fluently-written and utterly absorbing account of what life (and, so very often) death was like for ordinary Germans in the capital of Hitler's Reich during the Second World War. The Berliners' capacity for suffering, for sacrifice, for self-delusion, but also astonishingly for love - and even on occasion humour - is superbly evoked by Moorhouse's cornucopia of new information
—— Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of WarBerlin at War is a well-researched and beautifully composed account, vividly recreating those years of Nazi arrogance, oppression, and corruption, that ended in such terrible destruction and civilian suffering
—— Antony BeevorWonderful ... an amazing panoramic view ... I've rarely read anything like it
—— Claire TomalinA masterful account of lost and stolen lives
—— Sunday TimesAwesome ... one of the most unforgettable books I have ever read. I defy anyone to read it without weeping at its human suffering, cruelty and courage ... in this book these righteous heroes have their rightful memorial
—— Simon Sebag Montefiore , Mail on SundaySheds new light on history that we thought we knew... meticulously detailed and very readable
—— David Willetts , New StatesmanThe miracle is that there isn’t a dull page. As it moves towards its deadly climax, the story hangs together as tightly as a thriller. Into the Silence is as monumental as the mountain that soars above it; small wonder that it won the 2012 Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction … Once you start wandering the snowy passes with Mallory and the lads, you won’t want to come down again. There can be no better way, surely, to spend a week in winter
—— Arminta Wallace , Irish TimesHe sees the climbers as haunted dreamers, harrowed by their desperate experiences in the First World War, living amid romantic dreams of Imperial grandeur and the elemental, sublime grandeur of the mountain
—— Steve Barfield , LadyThis is the awesomely researched story of Mallory, Irvine and the early Everest expeditions. It puts their efforts and motivations into the context of Empire and the first world war in a way I don’t think previous books have ever managed
—— Chris Rushby , Norfolk MagazineA vivid depiction of a monumental story…Wade Davis’ passion for the book shines through and I can only hope that his next book doesn’t take as long to write as I will certainly be reading it
—— Glynis Allen , Living North