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Eight Days at Yalta: How Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin Shaped the Post-War World by Diana Preston
adamren's review
3.0
DNF. Too dense and boring. Really wanted to keep going, but I couldn't care less about what food they ate, get down to business damn it!
mbondlamberty's review against another edition
4.0
I am a fan of Diana Preston. She write the history of events with details that I appreciate. Sure not everyone wants to know about bedbugs or menus but I found them to be interesting anecdotes.
I also teach history so love these little anecdotes to give students a sense of a time and place (though probably won't mention specific menus, but rather the incongruity of communist governments eating all the caviar they wanted but not having good water).
I enjoyed this micro-history (like her Boxer Rebellion history) - an up close and not always flattering picture of the players and events. It was supremely readable (to me, again a history teacher) and was even a "break" for me from reading a history of xenophobia in the US (which is a little too close to home these days).
I appreciate that Preston sticks to just the facts, but I would have liked a little more conjecture of what could have happened like she does at the end. Were people not doing their homework for this important meeting? Did Roosevelt have a stronger hand to play and simply didn't take advantage of it to the detriment of millions?
I also teach history so love these little anecdotes to give students a sense of a time and place (though probably won't mention specific menus, but rather the incongruity of communist governments eating all the caviar they wanted but not having good water).
I enjoyed this micro-history (like her Boxer Rebellion history) - an up close and not always flattering picture of the players and events. It was supremely readable (to me, again a history teacher) and was even a "break" for me from reading a history of xenophobia in the US (which is a little too close to home these days).
I appreciate that Preston sticks to just the facts, but I would have liked a little more conjecture of what could have happened like she does at the end. Were people not doing their homework for this important meeting? Did Roosevelt have a stronger hand to play and simply didn't take advantage of it to the detriment of millions?
anastasia_kar's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent engaging historic writing even for those who don't like to read history!
tanyarobinson's review against another edition
3.0
This book had two components: a day-by-day narrative of what went down during those eight days Churchill, FDR, and Stalin met at Yalta, and an analysis of what their agreement meant for the world. The itinerary chapters, complete with what they ate for meals, lots of passages from aides' journals, and discussion of the Russian palaces in which the "Big Three" were housed, got tiring. I don't care that much about the mundane details of that decisive week.
The analysis, however, matters a lot. I was especially intrigued by Preston's assertion that, had the conference taken place the previous summer as originally planned, the United States and UK would have been in a much stronger bargaining position. By February 1945 the Soviet armies had already occupied much of Eastern Europe, and were only miles from Berlin. Churchill and Roosevelt were so concerned that these Eastern countries, particularly Poland, have self-determined new governments, but this was impossible to implement when Communist Russia had on-site authority.
Another major objective at the conference was Russia's agreement to declare war on Japan. Up until this point the two countries had a mutual non-aggression pact in force. Prognosticators forecast that it would take another 2 years for America to completely defeat Japan, and counted on Russia opening a far eastern front against Hirohito. Interestingly, the date chosen for Russia to attack Japan was August 8, so the hurried atomic attack on Hiroshima on August 6 was clearly an attempt to preclude the Soviets from joining the war, and thus obviate the need to keep promises made in return. Stalin quickly moved troops into the Korean Peninsula and some far northern Japanese islands before the Japanese surrendered on August 15. As a result, a Communist foothold in the Koreas was established, leading the next decade to the Korean War.
Eight Days at Yalta gave me more insights into the unique personalities of Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. I'm glad I read it, even though the middle of the book dragged a bit. 3.5 stars.
The analysis, however, matters a lot. I was especially intrigued by Preston's assertion that, had the conference taken place the previous summer as originally planned, the United States and UK would have been in a much stronger bargaining position. By February 1945 the Soviet armies had already occupied much of Eastern Europe, and were only miles from Berlin. Churchill and Roosevelt were so concerned that these Eastern countries, particularly Poland, have self-determined new governments, but this was impossible to implement when Communist Russia had on-site authority.
Another major objective at the conference was Russia's agreement to declare war on Japan. Up until this point the two countries had a mutual non-aggression pact in force. Prognosticators forecast that it would take another 2 years for America to completely defeat Japan, and counted on Russia opening a far eastern front against Hirohito. Interestingly, the date chosen for Russia to attack Japan was August 8, so the hurried atomic attack on Hiroshima on August 6 was clearly an attempt to preclude the Soviets from joining the war, and thus obviate the need to keep promises made in return. Stalin quickly moved troops into the Korean Peninsula and some far northern Japanese islands before the Japanese surrendered on August 15. As a result, a Communist foothold in the Koreas was established, leading the next decade to the Korean War.
Eight Days at Yalta gave me more insights into the unique personalities of Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Joseph Stalin. I'm glad I read it, even though the middle of the book dragged a bit. 3.5 stars.
tlambe87's review against another edition
5.0
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this excellent work.
History is my favorite reading topic and this was just fantastic. I really enjoyed this and learned so much. The book was extremely easy to digest. Highly recommend this. Even WWII experts will likely benefit from this. Well-researched, well-written.
History is my favorite reading topic and this was just fantastic. I really enjoyed this and learned so much. The book was extremely easy to digest. Highly recommend this. Even WWII experts will likely benefit from this. Well-researched, well-written.
natep's review against another edition
3.0
Eight Days at Yalta describes the entirety of the Yalta Conference. It covers the background information needed to understand the negotiations, the day-by-day details of the actual conference, and the aftermath that resulted in the creation of the UN and the loss of Poland to the Soviet sphere. The main part of the book covers the vagaries of negotiations at Yalta, where the three leaders met with their retinues and created the world as we know it. It was astonishing to see how central Poland was at this conference because I had never learned in school about its post-war experience, mainly its role as catalyst for the UK's joining the war. It was also scary to see the way Churchill and Roosevelt were charmed by Stalin, having grown up hearing about the terrors perpetrated by his regime. I still cannot understand why an atomic bomb was so difficult to comprehend, but I guess that's more of a societal change showing within me. Sourcing was very good for this book, relying on minutes taken by all three countries and discussing where they differed. This was definitely a good book to learn about the conference from, and I recommend it to anyone interested.
An e-copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
An e-copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.