5803. Eight Days at Yalta How Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin Shaped the Post-War World, by Diana Preston (read 10 Oct 2022)..This book was published in 2019 so can look at Yalta more objectively, having the benefit of hindsight. I found the subject very familiar, having lived through all the events and was very conscious of them, as they happened, and of the intense discussion of them in 1945. In large part, I found the treatment very fair and I often agreed with the author. She tells in great detail of the events of the eight days and of the events thereafter. She shows that FDR and Churchill did the best that was doable and that if Stalin had lived up to what he agreed to the postwar world would have been far better than it turned out to be. And one can take some solace in the fact that the Soviet world did eventually collapse and at least briefly the Russian bear behaved as it should have I don't think the evil that Putin is perpetrating can be blamed on Yalta. The book is consistently great reading and is an excellent refresher as to the events recounted ( )

This book is interesting today in light of the subject of racism towards Jews as well as Asians. Churchill was in fact very racist towards Asians, and had no interest in changing that behavior. Stalin and Roosevelt were plotting behind Churchill's back even though he was the one responsible for rallying the other countries to defeat the Nazi invasion. None of these leaders really come off as being angels. ( )

This is a day-by-day account of the February 1945 conference of the soon-to-be victorious Allied Powers of WW2. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Churchill and Russian Marshall and dictator Joseph Stalin participated in the conference. (French General de Gaulle was expressly excluded from the conference.) It was the second summit meeting of the trio, following their meeting in Tehran in 1943. After considerable back-and-forth amongst the principals, Yalta in the Crimea, which had recently been liberated from Nazi occupation, was the chosen site. It was an arduous journey for Roosevelt and Churchill, and a long train ride for Stalin.

Each of the leaders came to the conference with a "wish list" for the agenda. For example, Churchill wanted to preserve the world affairs role of Britain and the British Empire as much as possible. Stalin on the other hand was the most determined (and best-prepared) of the three; he wanted to protect the Russian western borders by surrounding Russia with subordinate buffer states under Soviet control. Roosevelt in obvious poor health wanted to get the UN established and get the Soviets into the war in the Pacific to defeat Japan. Each succeeded to a significant degree and in the author's view, Stalin achieved the most: he had a strong hand, with Russian troops pushing into Germany and closing in on occupying Berlin. The exclusion of the de Gaulle from the conference was an issue for the Soviets but Britain wanted France as a buffer between it and Europe. The French general showed little or no gratitude for Churchill's strong support. Eventually Stalin relented to the extent that France was given a zone within Germany during the Allied Occupation.

"Eight Days at Yalta" is an informative narrative history, with plenty of anecdotes. (Bathroom facilities were in short supply at Yalta.) Diaries and memoirs are the source of significant amounts of the story. It's an entertaining read, a comprehensive overview of the Conference, uncluttered by detailed footnotes. The source notes and bibliography at the end of the book are helpful. I enjoyed having the several maps at the beginning of the book. Occasionally amusing, it focuses on the people: the list of attendees made for convenient reference as the narrative progressed.

The author includes as a tag end to this book, commentary about the Potsdam conference implicitly suggesting it was unimportant. By the time Potsdam ended two of the three participants had been replaced: Churchill by Attlee and Roosevelt by Truman. Potsdam, more than Yalta set the tone for future developments, and the Cold War, although decisions made at Yalta were more consequential. This book can serve as a good segue for a book focusing on Potsdam, such as Michael Neiberg's excellent "Potsdam: the End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe".

Recommended: "Eight Days at Yalta" is a good basic introductory text to the Yalta Conference, with a strong focus on the personalities involved.

NOTE: I requested and received an advance reading copy of this book from the publisher, Atlantic Monthly, via Netgalley. The comments about it are my own. I appreciate the opportunity to review the book. ( )

Extremely thorough, very well documented, yet easy to read and follow. Covers the important period where the US, Britain, and Russia sat down together to determine the structure of Europe after World War 2.
I wish that all history book authors would take notice of Preston's approach to writing. Forget the emphasis on dates, and instead wrap those dates into a story that will engage the audience. ( )