03/02/2015
In July 1945, three Allied leaders—Harry S. Truman, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill—met at the Potsdam Conference in Germany to establish the structure of a postwar world order. Many observers disliked the outcome, but Neiberg (The Blood of Free Men), professor of history at the U.S. Army War College, explains why he approves of it in this thoughtful, mildly controversial account. Truman, vice president until F.D.R.’s death three months earlier, knew little of world affairs but proved a quick study. Churchill, voted out of office before the conference ended, “baffled and worried his own cabinet officers.” While acknowledging “Stalin’s brutality,” Neiberg sympathizes with him; aware that Russia did most of the fighting and suffering, the Soviet leader came to Potsdam “not to make deals but to settle scores.” In the end, Stalin got most of what he wanted: hegemony over Eastern Europe, reparations, and generous territorial gains in exchange for attacking Japan, as the war in the Pacific continued. Neiberg points out that WWII did not lead to a third world war, and that Stalin’s concentration on politics over economics at the conference eventually doomed the Soviet Union. Neiberg’s insightful history makes a case that Potsdam worked much better than Versailles had in 1919. Photos. Agent: Geri Thoma, Writers House (May)
"Potsdam is a thought-provoking book with many noteworthy perceptions and much good description."—New Criterion
"[A] well-researched, perceptive history."—America in World War II
"[Neiberg is] a skilled storyteller."—Weekly Standard
"[A] crisp, elegantly organized account of Potsdam.... [An] excellent book."—Financial Times
"An easily digestible page-turner."—Wall Street Journal
"An intriguing and readable book about a conference that has been relegated to footnotes for much too long. A must-have account for everyone."—Library Journal
"[A] thoughtful, mildly controversial account.... Neiberg's insightful history makes a case that Potsdam worked much better than Versailles had in 1919."—Publishers Weekly
"This is a solid account of the conference, concisely summarizing its results and significance without excessive indulgence in entertaining personal anecdotes. Fills a hitherto surprisingly empty niche in the World War II library."—Kirkus Reviews
"Michael Neiberg has given us a taut, masterful account of Potsdam, revealing that the Big Three operated more from fear-of each other, of their peoples, of their rivals, and of fast-moving events on the groundthan from any degree of confidence or certainty. The Cold War was born at Potsdam, and Neiberg seats us at the conference table, to feel the tension and acrimony."—Geoffrey Wawro, author of A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire
"The Potsdam Conference defined international relations in the second half of the twentieth century, and it continues to influence contemporary events in Europe and East Asia. This book offers a compelling account of the events that led to the conference, the personalities who dominated the conference, and the consequences of their decisions. Neiberg explains why Potsdam was more successful than the Versailles Conference at the end of the First World War, and he analyzes how Potsdam contributed to postwar peace. This is a powerful book with high dramaa must-read for anyone interested in global affairs."—Jeremi Suri, author of Liberty's Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama
"Michael Neiberg's Potsdam is a masterpiece of much needed compression on the Potsdam Conference of 1945, and the contrast with peacemaking in 1919 is excellently brought out."—Norman Stone, author of World War Two: A Short History
"Ghosts and hopes informed the 1945 Potsdam Conference, which began a new era in European and world history. Michael Neiberg's comprehensively researched, smoothly presented analysis demonstrates that the statesmen who met at Potsdam were as much concerned with ending the era of total war that began in 1914 as with addressing the question of how best to go forward in securing peace and stability. Potsdam describes the processes and consequences in a perceptive work confirming the author's status as a leading scholar of the twentieth century experience."—Dennis Showalter, professor of history, Colorado College
"With the end of war in Europe in May 1945, Truman, Stalin, Churchill, and their advisors met at Potsdam to solve the 'German problem' once and for all. They agreed upon the main task, but on little else. Shrewdly and economically, Michael Neiberg delineates the conflicting motives and interests that separated the leaders of 'the Big Three.' Mr. Neiberg provides deft pen portraits of the principals as well. He has taken an enormously complicated subject and made it comprehensible for the general reader."—Jonathan Schneer, author of Ministers at War: Winston Churchill and His War Cabinet
"Although the Potsdam Conference isn't as famous as those held at Casablanca, Quebec, or Yalta, Michael Neiberg brilliantly shows how the decisions made at Potsdam color today's world far more than its counterparts. With compelling prose and first-class scholarship, Neiberg superbly captures its spirit of misplaced optimism, as the world teetered on the brink of a totally unnecessary Cold War."—Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War
"A first rate account of a meeting that played a key role in defining the postwar world. Scholarly, thoughtful, and well written."—Jeremy Black, author of Rethinking World War Two
03/15/2015
Here, Neiberg (Stimson Chair, Dept. of National Security and Strategy, U.S. Army War Coll.; Dance of Furies) takes a long overdue look at the Potsdam Conference between U.S. President Harry S. Truman; Soviet leader Joseph Stalin; and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and later Clement Attlee succeeding Churchill, at the end of World War II. In a departure from the few other books available on the Potsdam Conference, Neiberg approaches the event not as the beginning of the postwar period, but as the end of the period of all-out war that started in 1914. He examines the effect of the different ways the principals of this conference look at history, which varied widely between the three men. Finally, he also examines the "great man" theory of history and how it may not apply in this instance. Neiberg, a specialist in World War I history, has succeeded on all three counts, writing an intriguing and readable book about a conference that still has a huge impact on today's world but has been relegated to footnotes for much too long. VERDICT A must-have account for everyone from students of world history at the undergraduate and graduate levels to knowledgeable recreational readers.—John Sandstrom, New Mexico State Univ. Lib., Las Cruces
2015-02-15
A military historian analyzes the significance of the final conference of the World War II allies.In July 1945, the leaders of the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union met in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam to determine policy for the occupation of Europe and the conclusion of the war against Japan. The conference was originally expected to include the "Big Three" of the Teheran and Yalta conferences, but Franklin Roosevelt had died and been succeeded by the inexperienced Harry Truman, and in midconference, Churchill was unexpectedly turned out of office and replaced by the Labour Party chief Clement Attlee. Stalin was therefore the best prepared of the three and held most of the cards as his armies occupied Eastern Europe and much of Germany. Neiberg (History/U.S. Army War College; The Blood of Free Men: The Liberation of Paris, 1944, 2012, etc.) thoroughly canvasses the multiplicity of issues taken up by the conferees. He does not report the meetings in detail but concentrates on exploring several themes underlying the proceedings, particularly how visions of history weighed on the participants and how "strategic environments and historical understandings limited and shaped the range of options open to [these] so-called 'great men.' " Neiberg parts company with historians who view Potsdam as the beginning of the Cold War, pointing out that most participants left the conference optimistic about the prospects for continued cooperation among the allies. Instead, the author views it as a successful ending to the European conflicts that began in 1914. Neiberg's casual acceptance of the reordering of Eastern Europe is troubling, as this was achieved only by displacing millions and placing the governments firmly under Stalin's thumb. Nevertheless, this is a solid account of the conference, concisely summarizing its results and significance without excessive indulgence in entertaining personal anecdotes. Fills a hitherto surprisingly empty niche in the World War II library.
Arthur Morey gives a solid narration of this account of the post V-E Day conference that shaped Eastern Europe and set in place the course of the Cold War. The Potsdam Conference of 1945 is compared with the Versailles Conference of 1919, which provides some interesting contrasts and parallels. However, this reviewer thinks that the author is too generous in describing Stalin’s motivations. Nonetheless, this well-written account is an appealing blend of academic and popular style, and Morey’s voice is a good match. His baritone voice is pleasing to the ear, steady in delivery, and subtly expressive. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine