A Historic Christmas

One Christmas in Washington, David Bercuson and Holger Herwig

This isn't particularly a "Christmas book," but it takes place mostly during December and the end of the Christmas season in January. It's the story of Winston Churchill's historic visit to Washington, DC in December 1941 in order to make a more firm alliance with the United States in the war against Nazism.

For two years, Great Britain had "gone it alone," trying to hold on as the German army marched across Europe, swallowing Belgium, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and more, and finally France. The next step, the British knew, would be the invasion of the British Isles. So far Franklin Delano Roosevelt had managed to persuade a war-wary Congress (all of them having remembered "the Great War" of 1914-1917) to at least approve his "Lend-Lease" program so that the British would have arms to fight with. But no way, the American public vowed, would we get drawn into another European war.

Pearl Harbor changed everything, especially when Adolf Hitler allied himself with the Empire of Japan. This is the story of the buildup to the event, of Churchill's clandestine visit to the United States and his stirring Christmas Eve message, and the eventual results.

If you are a history buff, especially one with an interest in World War II, this volume is recommended.