This is a complex and detailed book about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his ambassadors to key cities in the U.K. and Europe during the Nazi regime’s meteoric rise to power in Germany. It is written by David McKean, the former U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg and former director of Policy Planning for the U.S. Department of State. It begins really in the early 1930’s with FDR’s political career in the U.S., as well as Hitler’s political career in Germany. I found this book to be loaded with facts and dates but the prose was clear, concise, and easy to understand. Not a small feat when explaining 20th Century world history.

The slowest reading I usually do in any book is the beginning, in which the major and many minor characters are introduced. The same happened here. The only U.S. ambassador that I knew anything about was Joe Kennedy, Ambassador to the Court of St. James (London). I also had little knowledge of FDR’s early political career, and no knowledge of his campaigns. Be patient, it all does matter during the latter years.

As I noted above, there are quite a few facts that I didn’t know before that are presented in the narrative, and I liked that. This is one of the historical time periods that I enjoy studying so that was a plus. I did not know that Ambassador Dodd was a front runner in calling out Hitler for what he was. (I did know that CBS journalist William L. Shirer was, but Dodd appears to have been far more militant about it.) I also was not aware that Ambassador Kennedy went to the lengths he did to try to get Roosevelt to make peace with Hitler while western European countries were overrun and the U.K. was clearly in grave danger.

All in all, I highly recommend this book as an examination of FDR and foreign policy in action during the 1930’s and into the 1940’s during the War. The emphasis is on the 1930’s and how the U.S. came to be involved in World War II. The personalities and attitudes of these select ambassadors profiled here definitely impacted world politics.

I want to thank St. Martin’s Press, author David McKean, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this pre-publication eGalley. I have posted an honest opinion and have not received anything for it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I have always been obsessed with history and learning about it from all points of view. While slow to start...this book had some different insight into world leaders against Adolf Hitler. Some I didn’t know and some I had heard before.

Watching Darkness Fall; FDR, His Ambassadors and the Rise of Adolf Hitler by David McKean.
I found this book very interesting as it tells the story of the period from 1933-1941 in the build-up to WW II in Europe through the eyes and reports of four key US ambassadors in Europe. (1) William Dodd in Germany; (2)Breckenridge Long in Italy; (3) William Bullitt 1st in Russia then in France and (4) Joseph P Kennedy in the UK.
Although they were ambassadors, their personalities as well as Franklin Roosevelt’s management style meant they reported to him and not the State Dept. This of course did not improve the overall situation. In other books that I have read, the same occurred with our Foreign Officers in China. Adding to the complexity were two key factors which were new to me: (1) FDR did not have confidence in his political strength to do the right thing. He was constantly second guessing himself and putting forward “America First” policies to hold on to votes instead of directly leading public opinion to the dangers of not preparing and supporting European efforts against Hitler and (2) dealing directly with his ambassadors mentioned above who were not of one mind. Dodd correctly saw Hitler for what he was, Long – a strong believer in Mussolini and anti-semite enjoyed himself immensely in Italy (3) Bullitt who rebelled against authority and fought a bitter internal battle to get ahead with a cabinet position in Washington and (4) Kennedy who also was an anti-semite and American First believer. And yet, FDR when necessary, made perfect decisions such as the Lend-Lease Act to get around the Neutrality Act that he signed three times to keep America out of the war.
In addition, I suppose not a surprise there were affairs going on with women by some of the above and all too much money spent on lavish Embassy parties which I can see accomplish nothing.
Have things changed today in the State Department? I am not sure and this book has wetted by appetite to learn more about the role of ambassadors today in regions of importance.