The Mantle of Command Audiobook By Nigel Hamilton cover art

The Mantle of Command

FDR at War, 1941–1942

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The Mantle of Command

By: Nigel Hamilton
Narrated by: Brad Sanders
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Based on years of archival research and interviews with the last surviving aides and Roosevelt family members, Nigel Hamilton offers a definitive account of FDR’s masterful - and underappreciated - command of the Allied war effort. Hamilton takes listeners inside FDR’s White House Oval Study - his personal command center - and into the meetings where he battled with Churchill about strategy and tactics and overrode the near mutinies of his own generals and secretary of war.

Time and again, FDR was proven right and his allies and generals were wrong. When the generals wanted to attack the Nazi-fortified coast of France, FDR knew the Allied forces weren’t ready. When Churchill insisted his Far East colonies were loyal and would resist the Japanese, Roosevelt knew it was a fantasy. As Hamilton’s account reaches its climax with the Torch landings in North Africa in late 1942, the tide of war turns in the Allies’ favor and FDR’s genius for psychology and military affairs is clear. This intimate, sweeping look at a great president in history’s greatest conflict is must listening.

©2014 Nigel Hamilton (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers Military Politics & Activism Presidents & Heads of State Wars & Conflicts World War II War Franklin D. Roosevelt Winston Churchill Roosevelt Family Interwar Period Imperial Japan Imperialism Africa Royalty Self-Determination Russia Submarine
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Slow start, but excellent. I was surprised by how much I didn’t realize about FDR’s role in WWII, and how much Churchill and his fans have obscured the impediments the Prime Minister presented at times. FDR offers us some genuine and unusual (but potentially dangerous) lessons in leadership.

Reorienting

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The book content was very good unfortunately the performance was very difficult to listen to

Very good content

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Nigel Hamilton is an exceptional writer and his research and writing style make for a powerful narrative covering FDR and his war leadership. This is a must read for all those interested in character driven leadership.

Unfortunately like others have noted, the narration is sub par. The narrator often struggled with pronouncing basic phrases and words. In fact it was at times shocking how badly the narrator struggled to get through the book. Not sure how the narrator choice was made but if I was Hamilton I would demand a new voice actor and start again a fresh read.

the ability of the author to create an insightful and fascinating narrative of FDR

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I was certainly looking forward to hearing this audiobook, but the halting narrative and insertion of words and phrases into the narrative that didn’t seem to belong, made this audiobook a tough one to get through.
The content however was informative and instructive.

Great Book, Terrible Narration

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