Reviews for A Loyal Opposition in Time of War: The Republican Party and the Politics of Foreign Policy from Pearl Harbor to Yalta, Vol. 49

The average rating for A Loyal Opposition in Time of War: The Republican Party and the Politics of Foreign Policy from Pearl Harbor to Yalta, Vol. 49 based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-12-06 00:00:00 Corey Pitman It's a seinfeld history book: all about nothing, because there wasn't much in the way of actual stabilization, as the book makes clear. Yet the nothing nicely illuminates the inter-war period politics in both countries. Reading a very specific, well-written history like this one shows how the broader trends impacted everything - in this case, Poland. By examining the relationship between the 2 countries, we learn a lot about the Polish interwar government(s). The U.S. was pulling back from Europe as the Poles needed more support. Help from the West for Poland never arrived, contributing (albeit modestly) to the instability in Europe that led to Hitler's rise. Who knows if it could have, but the U.S. failed to prevent WWII. Ultimately, Poland, the US and the Stabilization of Europe is still about the absence of activity (as the author repeatedly notes), so the drama value is diminished. Still, this book offers context on the run up to the war - and is worth a read by history buffs... and definitely anyone interested in Polish history.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-06-24 00:00:00 Jim Moineau A concise review of the political wrangling and financial haggling that surrounded the re-birth of the independent Polish state in the years following World War One until the Great Depression in the early 1930's. Also an insight on the characters who played the pivotal roles. I can't help but wonder if the US had been allowed to take a more dominant role in Polish financial affairs in those early years and had invested vast amounts of capital, would it have made a difference to Nazi and Soviet thinking in 1939/40. We'll never know!!!