Jay Winik Knihy

It was not inevitable that World War II would end as it did, or that it would even end well. 1944 was a year that could have stymied the Allies and cemented Hitler's waning power. Instead, it saved those democracies -- but with a fateful cost. 1944 witnessed a series of titanic events: FDR at the pinnacle of his wartime leadership as well as his reelection, the planning of Operation Overlord with Churchill and Stalin, the unprecedented D-Day invasion and the horrific Battle of the Bulge, and the tumultuous conferences that finally shaped the coming peace. But on the way, millions of more lives were still at stake as President Roosevelt was exposed to mounting evidence of the most grotesque crime in history, the Final Solution. Just as the Allies were landing in Normandy, the Nazis were accelerating the killing of European Jews. Winik shows how escalating pressures fell on Roosevelt, whose rapidly deteriorating health was a closely guarded secret. Was winning the war the best way to rescue the Jews? Was a rescue even possible? Or would it get in the way of defeating Hitler? In a year when even the most audacious undertakings were within the world's reach, including the liberation of Europe, one challenge -- saving Europe's Jews -- seemed to remain beyond Roosevelt's grasp

One month in 1865 witnessed the frenzied fall of Richmond, a daring last-ditch Southern plan for guerrilla warfare, Lee's harrowing retreat, and then, Appomattox. It saw Lincoln's assassination just five days later and a near-successful plot to decapitate the Union government, followed by chaos and coup fears in the North, collapsed negotiations and continued bloodshed in the South, and finally, the start of national reconciliation. In the end, April 1865 emerged as not just the tale of the war's denouement, but the story of the making of our nation. Jay Winik offers a brilliant new look at the Civil War's final days that will forever change the way we see the war's end and the nation's new beginning. Uniquely set within the larger sweep of history and filled with rich profiles of outsize figures, fresh iconoclastic scholarship, and a gripping narrative, this is a masterful account of the thirty most pivotal days in the life of the United States.

It is an era that redefined history. As the 1790s began, a fragile America teetered on the brink of oblivion, Russia towered as a vast imperial power, and France plunged into revolution. But in contrast to the way conventional histories tell it, none of these remarkable events occurred in isolation.Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian Jay Winik masterfully illuminates how their fates combined in one extraordinary moment to change the course of civilization. A sweeping, magisterial drama featuring the richest cast of characters ever to walk upon the world stage, including Washington, Jefferson, Louis XVI, Robespierre, and Catherine the Great, The Great Upheaval is a gripping, epic portrait of this tumultuous decade that will forever transform the way we see America's beginnings and our world

Das Jahr 1944 gilt als Wendepunkt in der Weltgeschichte. Roosevelt, Churchill und Stalin beschließen den »D-Day« und läuten den Sieg über Hitler-Deutschland ein. Doch warum vertraute der US-Präsident damals Stalin? Was passierte im Weißen Haus, als der Präsident erfuhr, dass die Massenmorde in Auschwitz dramatisch anstiegen? »Rettet die Juden, bombardiert Auschwitz!«, verlangten die Menschen vom todkranken US-Präsidenten. In seinem packenden Werk beschreibt Jay Winik nicht nur den äußeren Kriegsverlauf, sondern auch den inneren Kampf eines der größten demokratischen Führer der westlichen Welt. Sollte er Auschwitz bombardieren? Würde dies das Morden beenden? Wie viele Gefangene würden im Fall einer Bombardierung sterben? Und wie sicher waren die Informationen? Auf der neuesten Forschungslage und mit moralischer Klarheit berichtet der amerikanische Journalist vom fatalen Fehler eines der größten Staatsmänner unserer Zeit.