Short Synopsis
From the acclaimed author of Citizens of London comes the definitive account of the debate over American intervention in World War II—a bitter, sometimes violent clash of personalities and ideas that divided the nation and ultimately determined the fate of the free world.

Full Synopsis
At the center of the debate over American intervention in World War II stood the two most famous men in America: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who championed the interventionist cause, and aviator Charles Lindbergh, who as unofficial leader and spokesman for America's isolationists emerged as the president's most formidable adversary. Their contest of wills personified the divisions within the country at large, and Lynne Olson makes masterly use of their dramatic personal stories to create a poignant and riveting narrative. While FDR, buffeted by political pressures on all sides, struggled to marshal public support for aid to Winston Churchill's Britain, Lindbergh saw his heroic reputation besmirched—and his marriage thrown into turmoil—by allegations that he was a Nazi sympathizer.

Spanning the years 1939 to 1941, Those Angry Days vividly re-creates the rancorous internal squabbles that gripped the United States in the period leading up to Pearl Harbor. After Germany vanquished most of Europe, America found itself torn between its traditional isolationism and the urgent need to come to the aid of Britain, the only country still battling Hitler. The conflict over intervention was, as FDR noted, "a dirty fight," rife with chicanery and intrigue, and Those Angry Days recounts every bruising detail. In Washington, a group of high-ranking military officers, including the Air Force chief of staff, worked to sabotage FDR's pro-British policies. Roosevelt, meanwhile, authorized FBI wiretaps of Lindbergh and other opponents of intervention. At the same time, a covert British operation, approved by the president, spied on antiwar groups, dug up dirt on congressional isolationists, and planted propaganda in U.S. newspapers.

The stakes could not have been higher. The combatants were larger than life. With the immediacy of a great novel, Those Angry Days brilliantly recalls a time fraught with danger when the future of democracy and America's role in the world hung in the balance.

"According to Lynne Olson's illuminating Tantor audiobook, Those Angry Days, Willkie traveled the country promoting the importance of international cooperation after the war." --- Huffington Post

"Narrator Robert Fass reads in a calm, thoughtful tone, even when speaking about tumultuous incidences and personality clashes. He sounds like he has studied this time period in depth as he reads Olson’s excellent text." ---SoundCommentary

"Robert Fass's narration is calm and dispassionate---until he's reading the actual words of those involved. Then, emotions come through. Listeners will feel the anger from both corners, taking them back to tense pre-WWII debates." ---AudioFile

"Multiple award–winning narrator Robert Fass has a smooth, deliberate cadence that makes it easy to soak up the extensive coverage of the era." ---Library Journal Starred Audio Review

New York Times Bestseller

Kirkus Bestseller

Library Journal Audio