
Roosevelt's Centurions
FDR and the Commanders He Led to Victory in World War II
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Narrated by:
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Dan Woren
“FDR’s centurions were my heroes and guides. Now Joe Persico has written the best account of those leaders I've ever read.” (Colin L. Powell)
All American presidents are commanders in chief by law. Few perform as such in practice. In Roosevelt’s Centurions, distinguished historian Joseph E. Persico reveals how, during World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt seized the levers of wartime power like no president since Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Declaring himself "Dr. Win-the-War", FDR assumed the role of strategist in chief, and, though surrounded by star-studded generals and admirals, he made clear who was running the war. FDR was a hands-on war leader, involving himself in everything from choosing bomber targets to planning naval convoys to the design of landing craft. Persico explores whether his strategic decisions, including his insistence on the Axis powers’ unconditional surrender, helped end or may have prolonged the war.
Taking us inside the Allied war councils, the author reveals how the president brokered strategy with contentious allies, particularly the iron-willed Winston Churchill; rallied morale on the home front; and handpicked a team of proud, sometimes prickly warriors who, he believed, could fight a global war. Persico’s history offers indelible portraits of the outsize figures who roused the "sleeping giant" that defeated the Axis war machine: the dutiful yet independent-minded George C. Marshall, charged with rebuilding an army whose troops trained with broomsticks for rifles, eggs for hand grenades; Dwight Eisenhower, an unassuming Kansan elevated from obscurity to command of the greatest fighting force ever assembled; the vainglorious Douglas MacArthur; and the bizarre battlefield genius George S. Patton. Here, too, are less widely celebrated military leaders whose contributions were just as critical: the irascible, dictatorial navy chief, Ernest King; the acerbic army advisor in China, "Vinegar" Joe Stilwell; and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, who zealously preached the gospel of modern air power. The Roosevelt who emerges from these pages is a wartime chess master guiding America’s armed forces to a victory that was anything but foreordained.
What are the qualities we look for in a commander in chief? In an era of renewed conflict, when Americans are again confronting the questions that FDR faced - about the nature and exercise of global power - Roosevelt’s Centurions is a timely and revealing examination of what it takes to be a wartime leader in a freewheeling, complicated, and tumultuous democracy.
©2013 Joseph E. Persico (P)2013 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
Fantastic!!
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What did you like best about Roosevelt's Centurions? What did you like least?
I read this book as part of a History Book Club's pick and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I'm not a fan of FDR, but respected the portraits of the generals that served him. Many interesting things about their lives that I've never heard made the read most interesting.Info I didn't know
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Roosevelt's Centurions - Lincoln and his Generals
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Fully Enjoyed This Book!
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As long as he sticks to facts Mr Persico does a decent job of describing the events that were central to the war but he is on shakier ground when he wanders into the areas of criticizing strategy, moralizing and psycho-analysis. If he insists on moralizing about decisions made during the war he should, at least, include the reasons those decisions were made.
In his telling of the bombing of Dresden he makes the comment that the US planners knew the Russians wanted Dresden bombed but says that was no excuse. In fact the Russians did not just “want” Dresden bombed, they specially asked for it to be bombed to prevent German reenforcements from being sent to the front during one of their attacks and, had the US and British refused, Stalin would have had a perfectly good reason to stop what limited cooperation he was providing to the allies.
Similarly Mr Persico says the US should have bombed the German Concentration Camps to disrupt the killings there. He may be right, but should have at least mentioned why Franklin Roosevelt made the decision not to bomb the camps. Roosevelt, in a discussion with Henry Morgenthau, said that he refused to authorize the bombing because it would only make people say that the US was killing the Jews rather than the Germans. I do not suggest that this was a valid reason to not bomb, only that Mr Persico owed it to Franklin Roosevelt to properly explain his reasons.
Additionally, Mr Persico's attempt to blame George Patton's behavior on his falling from horses when he was young is just plain embarrasing, and I don't mean embarassing to George Patton.
Mr Woren's narration of this book is less than stellar. His tone and inflections are OK but he needs to learn the proper prononciation of some of the words he is reading. I have listened to books far less well read than this one, but also to many read much better.
Superficial description of World War II
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How could the performance have been better?
the Quotes should not be read with "voices" it is one thing to hear "German" for Hitler voice, but also a woman's voices? this is a serious book, this is not needed and damaged the listening.Nice book, but the reading itself is annoying
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Poor Storyline Poor Research
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