Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour

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Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour

by Lynne Olson (Goodreads Author)

4.22 of 5 stars 4.22 · rating details · 1,219 ratings · 270 reviews

The acclaimed author ofTroublesome Young Menreveals the behind-the-scenes story of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, the handsome, chain-smoking head of CBS News in Europe; Averell Harriman, the hard-driving millionaire who ran FDR’s Lend-Lease program in Lond...more

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Published February 2nd 2010 by Random House (first published 2010)

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Apr 28, 2013 Mikey B. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A majestic description of London during the tumultuous days of World War II. Its’ main aim is to portray the Americans who went to live in London during this dynamic period of history. The focus is on three differing personalities – the solitary and soft-spoken ambassador Gilbert Winant, the famous news broadcaster Edward Murrow, and the businessman Averell Harriman. The author provides us with vivid portrayals of each, as well as a cavalcade of native Londoners and many other of its’ foreign in...more A majestic description of London during the tumultuous days of World War II. Its’ main aim is to portray the Americans who went to live in London during this dynamic period of history. The focus is on three differing personalities – the solitary and soft-spoken ambassador Gilbert Winant, the famous news broadcaster Edward Murrow, and the businessman Averell Harriman. The author provides us with vivid portrayals of each, as well as a cavalcade of native Londoners and many other of its’ foreign inhabitants who had fled occupied Europe. As the author, Lynne Olson expresses, London was the most intense city in the world during the Second World War – it was the leader of the free and democratic peoples. Occupied Europe looked to it as the beacon of hope. It stood alone during the dark days of 1940 and ’41.

Lynne Olson captures this spirit throughout in this magnificent book. London was bombed, hit by V1 and V2 rockets, and it was the headquarters of the Normandy invasion. She centers on the freedom of all the wonderful personalities who gathered there. As one person exclaimed who had escaped from Nazi occupied Europe – “Isn’t it wonderful to be here!”

The individuals are well presented – from the high and powerful to the average Londoner coping with the blitz and rationing. After the Normandy invasion many felt nostalgic because the city was emptying out and the primary attention was now shifting to mainland Europe.

The only area I felt this book going astray was in the analysis of the summit meetings at Teheran and Yalta. Lynne Olson was a little harsh on Roosevelt. It must be remembered that within that time period Roosevelt’s main objective was to get a commitment from Stalin to the U.N. and for the Soviet Union to attack Japan in China after the war in Germany was over. He succeeded at both of these.

Aside from this the book delivers and gives us a view of what it was like to be at the capital of the free world during the war, amidst Churchill, DeGaulle, Eisenhower and other towering personalities.

My favourite quote at the end from Eric Sevareid: “When this is all over, in years to come, men will speak of this war and say, “I was a soldier…”. Others will say with equal pride “I was a citizen of London” ”.
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Jun 24, 2010 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those interested in WWII in Europe and Anglophiles

This is an excellent book about Britain and the Anglo-American alliance during World War II. Especially good are the insights into life in London during the Blitz (indiscriminate Nazi bombing of civilian targets) and the relationship between Britain and the United States before America entered the war, during the time they fought together, and immediately after the war. The book focuses on three Americans who helped save England (and, by extension, the United States) by encouraging U.S. entrance...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Kathryn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: world-war

Ostensibly a close-up look at some Americans in Britain during the war, but really much more. I could have easily done without the romantic entanglements of the three main players -- Edward R. Murrow (just as cool as you would expect), John Gilbert Winant (yes, he was just like Mr. Smith when he went to Washington), and Averell Harriman (yawn) -- with members of Churchill's family :) but in theory, it's very interesting that these transplanted Americans were so involved in that way with that par...more

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Jul 13, 2010 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, england, world-war-ii, history

ARC received through the First Reads giveaway program.

This book is an account of the alliance between the Great Britain and the United States. The primary focus is on Edward R. Murrow (head of CBS in Europe), Averell Harriman (who ran the Lend-Lease program), and John Gilbert Winant (America's ambassador to Britain).

This book was a real eye-opener to me. My impression was always that it was a no-brainer that America was Great Britain's ally during WWII--weren't we always friends in the 20th cen...more

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Mar 26, 2013 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This text is really fantastic. I call it a text because it is as dense and informative as a history text book, but written in such a way as to be a fascinating and compelling read. Upon finishing it, I actually felt cheated by all the World War II history I’d been taught in my life, because I realized that I’d only really ever been told the American side of the story, which is less than fifty percent of it. This book, however, not only shows how incredibly heroic and upstanding Britain was durin...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Carol Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Over dinner in a private room of the fragrant restaurant, we gathered to discuss Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Finest Hour by Lynne Olson. The eight of us sat around a long rectangular wooden table agreeing how little we had known about the topic prior to reading the book. We were all born in the 1940s or 1950s, so that war was important to our parents and grandparents. Not so much to our generation. Someone sagely suggested we each say a bit about how our paren...more Over dinner in a private room of the fragrant restaurant, we gathered to discuss Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Finest Hour by Lynne Olson. The eight of us sat around a long rectangular wooden table agreeing how little we had known about the topic prior to reading the book. We were all born in the 1940s or 1950s, so that war was important to our parents and grandparents. Not so much to our generation. Someone sagely suggested we each say a bit about how our parents experienced the war.
This meeting took place in northern California but several of us had been raised elsewhere. The experiences were not just geographically diverse our parents had wildly different war experiences.
A couple of fathers stayed at home in civil defense capacities, due to their age or family responsibilities.
One of our fathers was unlucky enough to be shot down over France early in the war and endured near starvation in German prisoner-of-war camps only to be almost killed during a Soviet liberation.
Another father had the inverse war story. He managed to arrive in North Africa and Italy after the fighting, when dancing, drinking, and having a good time was all he reported doing for the duration.
One set of grandparents had the misfortune of being Jewish in Eastern Europe (but the blonde looks to pass as gentile). Many of their friends and family were unable to escape and lost their lives not just everything they owned.
My dad sailed across the Pacific on a cheaply made naval vessel dodging cyclones, torpedoes, and bombs, mostly successfully. Only recently have I learned about this war experience and his survivor guilt, as it just wasn’t discussed when I was a kid.
Whatever family’s war time experiences, few Americans fully comprehended what was happening in London prior to the U. S. entering the war. The book gives a vivid, sometimes intimate look at the key players in London prior to and during World War 2. Many of the important ones (Gil Winant, being the most important), I’d never heard of. The secret lives and loves of all are revealed, along with the mind numbing geo-political escapades of the great powers.
The book is a treasury of information and it is guaranteed to get you thinking about a very important time in history.

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Jan 28, 2013 Margery rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Margery by: Margie Winn

FINALLY ... finished reading! I enjoyed this book for several reasons which doesn't help explain why it took six weeks to get through it. But non-fiction is not my first choice and so I nibbled rather than gobbled. Lynne Olson's book is a wonderful counterpart to The Postmistress (fictionalized account of the pre-war exodus across Europe of those running from Hitler.)

A second reason for liking this account is that it occured (mostly) in my lifetime and brought back memories of hearing Edward R....more

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Nov 18, 2012 Margie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: even those who aren't 'into' WWII books

Shelves: biographies-memoirs, kay-graham, sense-of-period

Citizens of London, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1) I love you because by taking a look at something other than the battles and the big names, you lulled me in to reading and caring about the war. I've always avoided reading about WWII because so many of the books are about specific battles or are about one mighty man. I find them confusing, which makes me bored, which then makes me mad because I don't want to be bored by something that should be of great import. I learned more abou...more

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Oct 21, 2012 Vivian Valvano rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fascinating and very informative account of the relationship between Britain and America in WW II, focusing on Edward R. Murrow, head of CBS News in London and broadcaster par excellence; John Gilbert Winant, U. S. Ambassador to Britain who became particularly beloved by the English people; and Averell Harriman, millionaire in charge of the Lend-Lease Program who tried to maneuver his way into other avenues of power. It also focuses meaningfully on the relationship between President Roosevelt an...more Fascinating and very informative account of the relationship between Britain and America in WW II, focusing on Edward R. Murrow, head of CBS News in London and broadcaster par excellence; John Gilbert Winant, U. S. Ambassador to Britain who became particularly beloved by the English people; and Averell Harriman, millionaire in charge of the Lend-Lease Program who tried to maneuver his way into other avenues of power. It also focuses meaningfully on the relationship between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. Murrow has long been a hero of mine for his WW II work as well as for his consequent work in the U. S. Winant's fate saddened me greatly; he was a good, earnest, and very bright man. I never had much use for Harriman and have less now, seeing that he was an amibitious prig, but he did know how to manage a program, e. g., Lend-Lease. None of the three get medals for marital fidelity, but Harriman's history is a pip. And Pamela Churchill, daughter-in-law of Winston, had a long affair with Harriman (whom she married years and years and years later ... after I-can't-remember-how-many other-beds each of them had slinked into) as well as an affair with Murrow (who eventually decided to stay with his wife). Winant's extra-marital love was none other than Sarah Churchill, Winston's daughter. Don't get the impression that the book is nothing more than bedroom romps; it's just that Olson can't legitmately record the experiences of these three men, each of whom was intricately woven into the fabric of wartime England, without recounting the not-so-carefully-kept secrets behind not-so-carefully-closed doors. My only complaint about the book is too much repetition throughout the text. But the picture of wartime Britain as contrasted with wartime U. S. is unforgettable; the picture of American service personnel in England and the mutual reactions of the Yanks and the Brits to each other is excellent; the presentation of the highs AND the lows of the Roosevelt-Churchill relationship is important; the account of the amount of time it took for the Allies to face the Holocaust is cringe-producing; and the shabbiness of some of the postwar decisions by the winning powers - e.g., casting Poland to the Soviet winds - is sobering. This is another good, revelatory book about the Second World War.(less)

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Sep 26, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-group-reads, non-fiction

What started off as a 3 star read quickly became 4 stars as I found myself drawn into this compelling history of 3 men, John Winant, Edward R. Murrow, and Averill Harriman who came to Britain's aid in their fight against Hitler and Germany during World War II. History was never my strong subject but the more I read in adulthood the more I find myself engrossed.

Lynne Olson uses primary resources to create this easy to read narrative. Being able to discuss the morals and politics of the key playe...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Adele rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love biographies and history anyway as I enjoying learning from other people's lives, but this was also well written, a real page turner, from the perspective of life in London for several key American "citizens" who were also living in London during WWII--a former NH governor and ambassador to Britain, a leading CBS broadcaster and a wealthy industrialist Averill Harriman. It also provided insight into the lives of Churchill and his family, as well as FDR, whic...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Pam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a fantastic book! I've spent almost a week and a half engrossed in this amazing sweeping history of WWII that dissects and weaves the intersections of the Americans whose fates where so entwined with the British. Starting with the three critical Americans, Murrow the newscaster, Winant the ambassador, and Harriman the head of the lend-lease program, Olson provides the broadest and most comprehensive look at the special relationship between Great Britain and the United States. Historians hav...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Ch rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a very easy to read account of the work done by the American ambassador to London and other prominent Americans to make Roosevelt understand the importance of America getting involved in the Second World War. Britain was about to lose the war, her people were on the verge of starvation, bankrupt and lacking men and weaponry - surviving on the strength of faith and spirit that she is renowned for in times of crisis, whilst the US went through a period of wealth and prosperity previously n...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Loralee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Since urban fantasy is way more fun to read than serious nonfiction, I let Citizens of London sit on my shelf for nearly two months after making myself check it out. But once I picked it up, I could hardly put it down again. Author Lynne Olson does the difficult and ambitious job of following three Americans--reporter Ed Murrow, ambassador John Winant, and Lend-Lease representative Averell Harriman--through the war waged against London. From the way they play against each other, with Harriman co...more Since urban fantasy is way more fun to read than serious nonfiction, I let Citizens of London sit on my shelf for nearly two months after making myself check it out. But once I picked it up, I could hardly put it down again. Author Lynne Olson does the difficult and ambitious job of following three Americans--reporter Ed Murrow, ambassador John Winant, and Lend-Lease representative Averell Harriman--through the war waged against London. From the way they play against each other, with Harriman cozying up to Churchill while cutting Winant out of the loop, and Murrow and Winant occasionally forced to defend opposite sides of arguments, to the united warning they give an America reluctant to enter a distant war, the author works to bring these men to life. While following these main characters, she also reports enough detail from D.C., English countryside, and European battlefield to give the forgetful reader a refresher course of just what was going on in World War II. (Rick Atkinson's An Army at Dawn brought the invasion of Africa to life in astonishingly documented detail, but there was so much to cover that after I finished the book I had no idea who had done what where; Citizens of London, in contrast gave just enough information for me to understand the summary of the campaign, as well as the reasons Eisenhower's choice to take over Vichy-ruled Tunisia caused such enormous political uproar.) Storied heroes, especially Roosevelt and Churchill, become real men, vulnerable to indecision and damaging pride; while the heroics of forgotten men, such as the polo player Tommy Hitchcock who singlehandedly pushed through the development of a fighter plane to accompany the defenseless Allied bombers, are once again brought to light. Even the conclusion is revealing, exploring the political decisions made at the end of the war, some chilling consequences of poor decisions, and the tragedies that continued even after the war ended. By the end of the book, I felt that I'd read both a a deeply moving human story and a history lesson, all wrapped together. That's the best kind of nonfiction.(less)

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Jul 04, 2011 Rosemary rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am not much of a student of the second World War. Perhaps because my parents lived through it, though my father did so with shrapnel scars and PTSD so bad my parents had to sleep in separate beds because in his dreams he re-fought the hand-to-hand encounters he had in Belgium and Germany. Perhaps because I saw so many World War II films (though we weren't allowed to watch European Theatre films when Daddy was around, just War in the Pacific). I grew up thinking Eisenhower was an idiot, Omar Br...more I am not much of a student of the second World War. Perhaps because my parents lived through it, though my father did so with shrapnel scars and PTSD so bad my parents had to sleep in separate beds because in his dreams he re-fought the hand-to-hand encounters he had in Belgium and Germany. Perhaps because I saw so many World War II films (though we weren't allowed to watch European Theatre films when Daddy was around, just War in the Pacific). I grew up thinking Eisenhower was an idiot, Omar Bradley a god, Patton an egomaniac. Averill Harriman a legend. FDR, depending on the parent, a savior or the destroyer of everything good in the world. Churchill a bulldog too stubborn to live.

Once I became an adult, I came to think that Eisenhower was an empty prop for the Republican Party, the Patton was an megalomaniac who looked like George C. Scott, that FDR was amazing, and that Churchill (thanks to Robert Hardy and Masterpiece Theatre) was a complex, brilliant, damaged soul who was both undervalued by his nation and a victim of his own ego.

And I thought of "The Blitz" and living in England during "The War" very much in "Mrs. Miniver" terms. Which, of course, was very complimentary to the Brits, but at the same time, devastatingly naive.

In the same way that Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory made me totally change how I thought about "The War to End All Wars," this book has totally upended how I see World War II. It focuses primarily on three Americans, Edward R. Murrow, Averill Harriman, and John Gilbert Winant. The subtitle of the book, "The Americans Who Stood With Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour" does telegraph much of the book's theme. It valorizes those who endured in that country through the devastation it suffered at the hands of the Third Reich, and those Americans who strove, in varying degrees, to help Britain survive, but it does much more than that. For the first time, I begin to understand.

I never understood why Murrow was so revered. Oh, I knew about his role in helping end the abuses of Joe McCarthy and his ilk. But not why all my journalist friends, and my mother, said his name with such awe and respect. I do now. I never understood why my father so hated Field Marshal Montgomery. I do now. I never understood so much.

After reading this book, I can't look at FDR the same way as I did before--while he did great good, he also made the world after the war a much more dangerous place than it needed to be. He was the epitome of privileged arrogance, both the type that comes from money, and the type that comes from our insulated geography--something I'm seeing more and more in our present. I respect Eisenhower more than I did before. Harriman had gifts, but after reading this book I can never think of his service without remembering his utter selfishness and power jockeying at the expense of what is "right."

Bradley, Patton, and various other figures all get a bright light cast on them, and it has totally changed my opinion of some of them. Okay--not with Patton. He still comes across as a marginally sane megalomaniac, just like everything else I've ever seen or read about him. One of the most startling revelations was of the role of Polish nationals before and throughout the war. Perhaps because all the time I was learning history Poland was part of the Soviet Union, we were never taught about what those people gave to the Allied cause, nor how unforgivably we let them down after.

If this book has unabashed heroes, it is Winant and the people of Great Britain, particularly London. I'd never heard of Winant before (despite being 3 time governor of New Hampshire, first head of the Social Security Administration, and Ambassador to London after Joe Kennedy). As I was reading the first chapters, I suddenly wondered if, in part, he was the model for The West Wing's Josiah Bartlett. So much of Winant seems to be embodied in the best of that character, not to mention the personal history.

Bearing in mind that all books have an idea they are trying to advance, I still found this book a revelation. Too much is grounded in documented events (notes, diaries, meeting minutes) to dismiss, and though the focus is occasionally diffused as the author gets caught up in a larger discussion of the war, this is a book any student of history would benefit from reading.

It hasn't made me a devotee of recounts of that war. I'm not likely to run out and read biographies of all the major players. But this book goes down on that very short list of "Books That Changed My Life."(less)

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Jun 16, 2011 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, nonfiction, biography

Lynne Olson's eye-opening book examines the efforts of Americans stationed in London, primarily Gil Winant, Ed Murrow and Averell Harriman, to bridge the gap between the British and Americans during the war. However, I found it to be more of a study of London and its tenacious, dedicated, and proud population. This is a sweeping and expertly written history that shines light on how difficult it was to build strong Anglo-American relationships on all levels. I appreciated Olson's theme of how in...more

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Oct 23, 2010 Susan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Darkest Finest Hour by Lynne Olson

The focus of this book is the relationship between Britain and the US as allies in WWII, a close alliance which a recent history of the war by Andrew Roberts credits in large part with winning the war. That’s not a new insight but as we move away from the “greatest generation” myth and begin to examine the reasons why this alliance might have failed, those most dedicated to its success demand close...more Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Darkest Finest Hour by Lynne Olson

The focus of this book is the relationship between Britain and the US as allies in WWII, a close alliance which a recent history of the war by Andrew Roberts credits in large part with winning the war. That’s not a new insight but as we move away from the “greatest generation” myth and begin to examine the reasons why this alliance might have failed, those most dedicated to its success demand close attention and that’s what Olson does.

The main characters are John Gilbert Winant, who took over as US Ambassador from Joseph Kennedy—who’d advised Roosevelt that Britain was doomed and help would not be effective, Edward R. Murrow who matured as a major force in broadcast news, bringing the plight of the British people to Americans by his broadcasting during the Blitz early in the war and then becoming the major interpreter of the European war for the ordinary American, and finally, Averill Harriman, who went to London as the administrator of Lend Lease but involved himself in many other aspects of the relationships.
Other Americans focused on were Eisenhower and Thomas Hitchcock, a playboy who'd been in the Lafayette Escadrille in WWI and acted as an advisor to the Air Force in England. He was responsible for getting the US to adopt the P-51 Mustang fighter, which allowed US bombers to have a reasonable chance of getting away after bombing German cities. (http://www.acepilots.com/planes/p51_m...).

The book covers all aspects of the lives of these men. With Winant, the focus was on his relationship with the British people and particularly how popular he was in Britain—recognized on the street and loved by ordinary people. I don't think I'd ever heard of him and probably he's better known in the UK than in the US. With Eisenhower there's a recap of Operation Torch (North Africa) since that was his baptism of fire as well as much discussion of how Ike balanced the needs and the egos of British and American generals. With Harriman the focus was on how he competed with Winant as the principal American influence in Britain and on his affair with Churchill's daughter-in-law, Pamela. In fact the love life of top figures representing both the US and Britain was a major issue in this book. It seems that the movies were not really wrong in portraying wartime London as a venue for love and sex. Murrow also had an affair with Pamela Churchill and Winant, with Sarah Churchill. Pamela has multiple affairs with influential men simultaneously.

If the book has a flaw it's that the author is emotionally attached to the protagonists and one wonders about her objectivity. She almost idolizes Winant, pretty much likes Murrow but doesn't like Harriman very much at all. Curiously while Churchill had a great relationship with Winant, he liked Harriman more. He was more of a rake, a sportsman and hard drinking man and Churchill preferred the hard working/hard playing type.

Olson dealt with issues like the influx of American servicemen into England. One thing I didn't know was that the American Red Cross set up service centers but refused to admit any British or other Allied servicemen, which policy Winant and others thought discouraged good relationships with the British. When asked by American officials to make changes the Red Cross conceded only that British officers who were invited by Americans could eat there but that's all. No British woman were allowed to work for the American Red Cross either. The book also dealt with the issue of race which has been examined at some length recently in books and movies. The British, not surprisingly, were horrified at how Americans treated black soldiers; the Americans didn't want to make big social changes in the middle of a war.

There's an interesting section on the relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt, especially toward the end of the war when the US began flexing its muscles and making decisions without involving the British. Olson sees the relationship as cooling considerably and believes that Churchill's decision not to go to Roosevelt's funeral reflects that changed relationship. After a number of recent books exalting that relationship, her point of view made me rethink some of the mythology of the relationship.(less)

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Mar 23, 2010 Ed rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed/could not put down Lynn Olson: Citizens of London, about the three key Americans in Second World War London. I have always thought that must have been the most intense time and place. The three Americans were the broadcaster Ed Murrow, the US ambassador John Winant, and the aid supremo Averill Harriman. Murrow and Winant were the two Americans most loved by the British people after FDR. Interestingly, all three had affairs at the time with Churchill’s daughters.

Anyway this Lond...more I really enjoyed/could not put down Lynn Olson: Citizens of London, about the three key Americans in Second World War London. I have always thought that must have been the most intense time and place. The three Americans were the broadcaster Ed Murrow, the US ambassador John Winant, and the aid supremo Averill Harriman. Murrow and Winant were the two Americans most loved by the British people after FDR. Interestingly, all three had affairs at the time with Churchill’s daughters.

Anyway this London was very intense and Olson's book is extremely well written, well researched and humanly convincing with great empathy for her subjects. Among its side insights:

Interestingly, she touches on an interesting race angle to the Americans being in Britain. At that time, the US military was very segregated and its racial attitudes appalling. The British could not understand this, and there were lots of fights between white American and the British hosts (who appreciated anyone coming to fight regardless of color), when the former insulted Black Americans publicly and the British stood up for them. Some pubs had signs saying ‘Only British and Black Americans served here’. I read elsewhere that the Civil Rights movement really took off after the war when Black Americans returned home from a country that did not treat them badly.

And Olson also tells how, even before America joined the war in December 1941 there were 244 Americans flying with the RAF against the neutrality laws of their country and 40% of them were killed. I find it intensely moving when I hear of people going to another country to fight for it against great evil, like the Americans crossing into Canada (with the FBI trying to stop them: the opposite of draft dodging) and traveling to London to fight against the Nazis.

She also notes that by 1943 there were also 100,000 Europeans in the British military from occupied Europe: people who just sneaked out, risked death leaving, and left everything behind to fight. French, Norwegians, Danes, Dutch, Belgians and Poles especially….while for instance back in Poland 3 million Poles were killed, 16% of the population. And Poland did not become free until 1989…. Olson comments that without the experienced Polish pilots the RAF might not have won the Battle of Britain as it had lost so many pilots in France.

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Dec 12, 2009 Ronald Roseborough rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book relates the story of a number of brave, outstanding, and visionary Americans who supported and in fact championed London and all of Britain, as it's life light was threatening to be extinguished in the early years of World War II. In this day and age, it is often hard to realize the vast differences which existed between the United States, which was largely isolationist, and the British colonial power. The extent of efforts needed to be made by these Americans to bring together Britain...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Ash rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was a soldier.

I was a sailor.

I was a pilot.

I was a citizen of London.

Honestly, Citizens of London probably deserves another star but I wasn't in the right headspace to give it. However, I do know a good book when I read one.

We all know how long it took the United States to become an active participant of World World II. Lynne Olson's emphasizes just how much leg shuffling and paper pushing it took. I was even to the point of Seriously America? and the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. The Brit...more

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Aug 22, 2010 William Blair rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another interesting and engaging book about World War II. Very readable, and almost impossible to put down. Another book that benefits from documents now coming available these many years after World War II. Very, very interesting. Fills in a lot of holes (I didn't know I had) about some of the major figures of the era. The surprising thing to me was the odd behavior of President Roosevelt, especially towards General Charles de Gaulle. I wonder if it was personal, political, or some side-effect...more

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Oct 15, 2010 Paul Brandel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a most excellent history of the alliances of America and Britian. Here are two passages from CITIZENS OF LONDON:"BUT THE EUROPEANS GREATEST CONTRIBUTION WAS IN THE FIELD OF INTELLIGENCE.JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN BEGAN,BRITISH CODE BREAKERS AT BLECTHLEY
PARK SUCCEEDED IN CRACKING THE LUFTWAFFE'S VERSION OF THE CIPHER PRODUCED BY GERMANY'S COMPLEX ENIGMA MACHINE...BUT BLETCHLEY PARK COULD
NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THE HELP OF THE FRENCH AND,ABOVE ALL THE POLES.USING DOCUMENTSSUPPLIED...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Robin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: didn-t-finish

This book was moderately interesting. It told the story of 3 Americans who lived in London and affected the United States in terms of getting into WWII, our actions during WWII and our actions after the war. The individuals were Ed Murrow, Averell Harriman and Gil Winant.

I enjoyed the historical aspect, since I didn't know much about our entry into WWII. I enjoyed reading about Averell Harriman, since Idaho's Harriman State Park was named after him. (Harriman donated land to the state for this p...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Frank rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An Excellent read. For those who may be interested in many of the reasons for America's reluctance in assisting England in their fight against Nazi Germany during the later part of the 1930's and the U.S.'s subsequent entry into WWII, you will find this book to be extremely enlightening, particulary in regard to the political leadership in play at the time. The book focuses on three American movers and shakers i.e., John Gilbert Winant (Former Governor of New Hampshire), Edward R. Murrow (U.S. W...more

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Aug 29, 2010 Al rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ostensibly a book about Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman, and John Gilbert Winant, three Americans who spent all or most of WWII in London and were instrumental in supporting the British and making the case to the United States for its active participation in the war effort. I was expecting the book to be only about the three men, but was pleased to find that it was very informative about much more--the attitudes prevailing in both countries, the personal and interpersonal difficulties of the...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Sandi Lipe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The subtitle of this book is "The Americans Who Stood with Britain in It's Darkest, Finest Hour." Tom Brokaw's comment on the flyleaf was this: "I thought I knew a lot about this dangerous period, but Lynne Olson has tought me so much more." I would have to completely agree with Mr. Brokaw.

The book primarily focuses on Edward R. Murrow, John Winant, American Ambassador to Britain and Averell Harriman. But, there were other interesting people profiled. I found Tommy Hitchcock to be interesting....more

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Apr 21, 2010 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

This book's structure is very similar to Lords of Finance. It's partly a group biography, but at the same time, the biography supports a larger history. Where Lords of Finance uses the central bankers of the U.S., Great Britain, France, and Germany to explore the period between the two world wars, this book uses Edward R. Murrow, Averill Harriman, and Gil Winant to tell the story of Anglo-American friendship during World War II.

This structure is most successful in the first third of the book, wh...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Tony Taylor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book with great interest from beginning to end. So often there is so much people-history behind the front-page news stories in time of conflicts that we tend to forget too soon those whose names at one time where on everyone's lips. One of those names, a man whose name was foreign to me until I read this book, was John Gilbert Winant, a successful politician who fortunately had the right friends in the right places so as to be recognized by President Roosevelt in the years leading up...more

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Sep 29, 2011 Allen Schauffler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm in the middle of this book and enjoying it quite a bit. It is a quick and accessible read that does a great job of fleshing out the flat stereotypes of life in World War II London. It is fascinating to look back on a time when the United States stood by and watched London burn, when the help we as Americans offered to a country under seige came with strings attached, when we just weren't sure as a country, and when our president clearly wasn't sure as a leader, that this nasty little Europea...more

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Oct 09, 2010 Converse rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, history, politics, non-fiction

Edward Murrow the journalist, Gil Winant the ambassador, Averell Harriman, and other Americans were present in Britain during the years of World War II and recorded their thoughts about being there. Murrow, Harriman and Winant also all had affairs with members of the Churchill faimily, Pamela Digby Churchill (Randolph Churchhill's (Winston's son) wife) in the case of Harriman and Murrow, Sarah Churchill in the case of Winant. Murrow and Winant were to be ultimately disappointed in their idealist...more

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About Lynne Olson

Before I began writing books full time, I worked for more than ten years as a journalist, including stints as Moscow correspondent for the Associated Press and White House correspondent for the Baltimore Sun. I've written six books of history, including the national bestseller "Citizens of London." My latest book, "Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight for World War II" (Mar...more

More about Lynne Olson...

Books by Lynne Olson

Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England

A Question of Honor: The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II

Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941

Freedom's Daughters: The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830 to 1970

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title link	preview: Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7767840-citizens-of-london?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1270158514l/7767840.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7767840-citizens-of-london?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour by Lynne Olson[/url]

Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour

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