Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945 Book

May 8, 1945, was VE-Day and the end of the long nightmare that Britain had been fighting against Germany since 1939. Although the war would go on against Japan until August, the great partnership between Britain and the U.S. had helped to bring victory to the Allies with much of the actual fighting and casualties lost by the third member of the coalition, the USSR.

This book deals with the grand strategy of Britain and America as created by Churchill, Brooke, Roosevelt and Marshall. Although GERMANY FIRST became the policy, it was a point of contention after Pearl Harbor in 1941 when many Americans, including King, wanted to concentrate on the Pacific. Fortunately, Roosevelt was more inclined to see Germany as the real danger. That policy was only one of many that these four men wrangled about during the war years. North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and above all the timing for the cross-channel invasion of France consumed much of the goodwill of the Allies as Britain and the U.S. tried to find ways to aid Russia and win the war.

The shifting of power in 1943 resulted in America becoming the 'senior' partner and dominating decision making. This book presents a detailed look at the crucial decisions and the men who made them. It was frequently slow-going, but informative. The author adds his own view of what drove each man to take the positions they did. He had the help of the diaries and papers of many, especially the British, to help him. Ironically, Andrew Roberts continually mentioned that they were not supposed to keep diaries, however, I suspect historians (including Roberts) are grateful that they did.