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Citizens of London
- The Americans Who Stood with Britain in Its Darkest, Finest Hour
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
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Editorial reviews
Listeners of Citizens of London are guided by the strong, steady voice of Arthur Morey as he details the tenacity of three Americans, who, prior to 1941, implored the United States to come to Britain’s aid in holding off German encroachment. Lynne Olson’s book reveals how the lives of broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, businessman Averell Harriman, and politician John Gilbert “Gil” Winant were woven together by their unabashed love for the English people and their respect for Britain. Even if you thought you knew just about everything there is to know about the Second World War, you’ll be enthralled to learn how closely the lives of Murrow, Harriman, and Winant intertwined through their personal connections to President Franklin Roosevelt and English Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Prior to America’s entrance into the war, Edward R. Murrow, in his CBS radio broadcasts from London, detailed the human cost of nightly German bombing blitzes of the city. U.S. Ambassador “Gil” Winant, anxious to dispel the vocal anti-British sentiment of his diplomatic predecessor, Joseph P. Kennedy, walked the debris-strewn streets asking shaken and dazed London citizens how he could be of help. When Averell Harriman arrived on the scene to control the distribution of Lend-Lease Act goods, his jovial camaraderie with Churchill served as ballast to the ever-shifting diplomatic signals FDR sent Churchill in the years leading up to Pearl Harbor. Murrow, Winant, and Harriman all became unofficial confidants to both Churchill and FDR. Morey’s classic narrator’s voice moves easily from the historical wartime details of negotiations and battles to descriptions of the toll the years in London took on the personal lives of Murrow, Winant, and Harriman. It was not all grim days and nightly shattered nerves, since at one time or another during the war years all three married gentlemen were romantically involved with Churchill women, which more tightly braided together the men’s lives.
Morey’s subtle changes in tone seamlessly blend the fatalistic hedonism of wartime London with the political gamesmanship that marked the relationships between Churchill and FDR and between English and American military leaders. Once countries banded together to become the Allies against the Germans, friction between FDR, Churchill, and military and diplomatic leaders was a constant. Morey’s even delivery expresses the gravitas of Olson’s writing as military missteps and diplomatic misunderstandings marked the Allied collaboration.
The lives of Edward R. Murrow, John “Gil” Winant, and Averell Harriman were so defined by their wartime experiences that the end of the war left all three searching for work that would be as meaningful to their lives. Listeners will appreciate Morey’s deliberate yet sympathetic style as he gives voice to how dramatically life after WWII especially affected Winant and Murrow. The material in Citizens of London, and Morey’s even narration, keeps listeners engaged and further informed about WWII and how repercussions of that event continue to affect our world today. Carole Chouinard
Publisher's summary
In Citizens of London, Lynne Olson has written a work of World War II history even more relevant and revealing than her acclaimed Troublesome Young Men.
Here is the behind-the-scenes story of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, Averell Harriman, and John Gilbert Winant. Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Olson skillfully depicts the dramatic personal journeys of these men who, determined to save Britain from Hitler, helped convince a cautious Franklin Roosevelt and a reluctant American public to support the British at a critical time. The three---Murrow, the handsome, chain-smoking head of CBS News in Europe; Harriman, the hard-driving millionaire who ran FDR's Lend-Lease program in London; and Winant, the shy, idealistic U.S. ambassador to Britain---formed close ties with Winston Churchill and were drawn into Churchill's official and personal circles. So intense were their relationships with the Churchills that they all became romantically involved with members of the prime minister's family: Harriman and Murrow with Churchill's daughter-in-law, Pamela, and Winant with his favorite daughter, Sarah.
Others were honorary "citizens of London" as well, including the gregarious, fiercely ambitious Dwight D. Eisenhower, an obscure general who, as the first commander of American forces in Britain, was determined to do everything in his power to make the alliance a success, and Tommy Hitchcock, a world-famous polo player and World War I fighter pilot who helped save the Allies' bombing campaign against Germany. Citizens of London, however, is more than just the story of these Americans and the world leaders they aided and influenced.
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The Definitive FDR
- Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox (1882-1940) and Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (1940-1945)
- By: James MacGregor Burns
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 58 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the longest serving president in US history, reshaping the country during the crises of the Great Depression and World War II. James MacGregor Burns's magisterial two-volume biography tells the complete life story of the fascinating political figure who instituted the New Deal. The Lion and the Fox details Roosevelt's youth, education, and his rise to national prominence, through his first two terms as president. The Soldier of Freedom is a moving profile of a leader gifted with rare political talent in an era of extraordinary challenges.
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Excellent narration
- By Ryan Baumbach on 02-16-24
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The Irregulars
- Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington
- By: Jennet Conant
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Prior to the U.S. entering WWII, a small coterie of British spies in Washington, D.C., was formed. They called themselves the Baker Street Irregulars after the band of street urchins who were the eyes and ears of Sherlock Holmes in some Arthur Conan Doyle stories.
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Spying in Washington
- By Sara on 10-03-14
By: Jennet Conant
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Troublesome Young Men
- The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 7, 1940, the House of Commons began perhaps the most crucial debate in British parliamentary history. On its outcome hung the future of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government and also of Britain - indeed, perhaps, the world. Troublesome Young Men is Lynne Olson's fascinating account of how a small group of rebellious Tory MPs defied the Chamberlain government's defeatist policies that aimed to appease Europe's tyrants and eventually forced the prime minister's resignation.
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Spectacular Narrative History Book
- By Nostromo on 11-30-18
By: Lynne Olson
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Those Angry Days
- Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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At the center of the debate over American intervention in World War II stood the two most famous men in America: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who championed the interventionist cause, and aviator Charles Lindbergh, who as unofficial leader and spokesman for America's isolationists emerged as the president's most formidable adversary. Their contest of wills personified the divisions within the country at large, and Lynne Olson makes masterly use of their dramatic personal stories to create a poignant and riveting narrative.
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Incivility in Politics - A Real Shocker!
- By Carole T. on 04-24-13
By: Lynne Olson
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Last Hope Island
- Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, Kimberly Farr
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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A groundbreaking account of how Britain became the base of operations for the exiled leaders of Europe in their desperate struggle to reclaim their continent from Hitler, from the New York Times best-selling author of Citizens of London and Those Angry Days.
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Not What I Expected--More What I Needed to Know
- By DanD on 06-25-17
By: Lynne Olson
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Madame Fourcade's Secret War
- The Daring Young Woman Who Led France's Largest Spy Network Against Hitler
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1941 a 31-year-old Frenchwoman, a young mother born to privilege and known for her beauty and glamour, became the leader of a vast intelligence organization - the only woman to serve as a chef de résistance during the war. Strong-willed, independent, and a lifelong rebel against her country’s conservative, patriarchal society, Marie-Madeleine Fourcade was temperamentally made for the job. No other French spy network lasted as long or supplied as much crucial intelligence. Fourcade was captured twice by the Nazis - and both times she managed to escape.
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Marvelous book, inappropriate narrator
- By LJH on 03-07-19
By: Lynne Olson
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The Definitive FDR
- Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox (1882-1940) and Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom (1940-1945)
- By: James MacGregor Burns
- Narrated by: David Stifel
- Length: 58 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the longest serving president in US history, reshaping the country during the crises of the Great Depression and World War II. James MacGregor Burns's magisterial two-volume biography tells the complete life story of the fascinating political figure who instituted the New Deal. The Lion and the Fox details Roosevelt's youth, education, and his rise to national prominence, through his first two terms as president. The Soldier of Freedom is a moving profile of a leader gifted with rare political talent in an era of extraordinary challenges.
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Excellent narration
- By Ryan Baumbach on 02-16-24
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The Irregulars
- Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington
- By: Jennet Conant
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Prior to the U.S. entering WWII, a small coterie of British spies in Washington, D.C., was formed. They called themselves the Baker Street Irregulars after the band of street urchins who were the eyes and ears of Sherlock Holmes in some Arthur Conan Doyle stories.
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Spying in Washington
- By Sara on 10-03-14
By: Jennet Conant
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The Secret World of Espionage
- By: Alma Katsu, Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, Lynne Olson, and others
- Narrated by: Alma Katsu, Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, Lynne Olson, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
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The world of espionage is shrouded in mystery—even to those in it—but so much of what we think we know about spy craft is rooted in pop culture. Even though the true nature of espionage is quite different, that doesn’t mean history’s real spies are any less heroic, or less fascinating. In these nine episodes, go behind the shadows with a distinguished panel of historians—including a former intelligence case officer—in search of the secret meeting places, complex codes, stealth observations, and cutting-edge technologies spies have used throughout history.
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This mess does not belong in the Great Courses
- By Keith E. Robison on 06-03-22
By: Alma Katsu, and others
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Empress of the Nile
- The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction
- By: Lynne Olson
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1960s, the world’s attention was focused on a nail-biting race against time: the international campaign to save a dozen ancient Egyptian temples from drowning in the floodwaters of the gigantic new Aswan High Dam. But the coverage of this unprecedented rescue effort completely overlooked the daring French archaeologist who made it all happen. Without the intervention of Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, the temples—including the Temple of Dendur, now at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art—would currently be at the bottom of a vast reservoir.
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Interesting but annoying
- By evan k pinto on 03-27-24
By: Lynne Olson
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Last Call at the Hotel Imperial
- The Reporters Who Took On a World at War
- By: Deborah Cohen
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 18 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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They were an astonishing group: glamorous, gutsy, and irreverent to the bone. As cub reporters in the 1920s, they roamed across a war-ravaged world, sometimes perched atop mules on wooden saddles, sometimes gliding through countries in the splendor of a first-class sleeper car. While empires collapsed and fledgling democracies faltered, they chased deposed empresses, international financiers, and Balkan gun-runners, and then knocked back doubles late into the night.
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Is History Going To Repeat Itself
- By Alesia Weiss on 03-19-22
By: Deborah Cohen
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Polk
- The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America
- By: Walter R. Borneman
- Narrated by: Alan Nebelthau
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a major political biography of a great American president - who won a war, transformed the government, and doubled the size of the United States...in four years. When Polk was sworn in as the 11th president, what followed was one of the most consequential presidencies in history.
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Polk: One of our most important Preidents
- By Rik GNV on 10-12-08
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Munich, 1938
- Appeasement and World War II
- By: David Faber
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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On September 30, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew back to London from his meeting at Munich with the German chancellor Adolf Hitler and was greeted with a hero's welcome. As he paused on the aircraft steps, he held aloft the piece of paper, bearing both his and the Fuhrer's signatures, that contained the promise that Britain and Germany would never go to war with each other again.
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Great insight into the events of 1938
- By Carolyn on 05-18-13
By: David Faber
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Churchill and America
- By: Martin Gilbert
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In this stirring book, Martin Gilbert tells the intensely human story of Winston Churchill's profound connection to America, a relationship that resulted in an Anglo-American alliance that has stood at the center of international relations for more than a century.
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Learning has never been so much fun.
- By Mark Kabbash on 07-21-24
By: Martin Gilbert
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Five Days in London, May 1940
- By: John Lukacs
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In the days between May 24th and 28th, 1940, the British War Cabinet held a historical debate over whether to negotiate with Hitler or to continue the war. In this magisterial work, John Lukacs demonstrates the decisive importance of those five days. Lukacs takes us hour by hour into the critical unfolding of events at 10 Downing Street, where Churchill, who had only been prime minister for a fortnight, painfully considered his war responsibilities.
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Less Than Meets the Eye
- By Michael Moore on 01-06-09
By: John Lukacs
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Churchill
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In Churchill, Johnson applies a wide lens and an unconventional approach to illuminate the various phases of Churchill's career. From his adventures as a young cavalry officer in the service of the Empire to his role as an elder statesman prophesying the advent of the Cold War, Johnson shows how Churchill's immense adaptability combined with his natural pugnacity to make him a formidable leader for the better part of a century.
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Superlative Account of Churchill
- By Darrell on 12-08-09
By: Paul Johnson
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Woodrow Wilson
- A Biography
- By: John Milton Cooper
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 35 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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John Milton Cooper, Jr., is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s preeminent Woodrow Wilson biographers. This thoroughly researched profile of America’s 28th president is universally hailed for its scholarship and insight into the life and career ofone of the nation’s most polarizing leaders.
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On the outside looking in
- By Doris on 09-02-13
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James Madison
- A Biography
- By: Ralph Ketcham
- Narrated by: Bill Burrows
- Length: 38 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The best one-volume biography of Madison’s life, Ketcham’s biography not only traces Madison’s career, it gives listeners a sense of the man. As Madison said of his early years in Virginia under the study of Donald Robertson, who introduced him to thinkers like Montaigne and Montesquieu, "all that I have been in life I owe largely to that man." It also captures a side of Madison that is less rarely on display.
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Narrator Too Robotic
- By Anonymous User on 09-20-21
By: Ralph Ketcham
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Stanton
- Lincoln's War Secretary
- By: Walter Stahr
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 20 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Of the crucial men close to President Lincoln, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was the most powerful and controversial. Stanton raised, armed, and supervised the army of a million men who won the Civil War. He organized the war effort. He directed military movements from his telegraph office, where Lincoln literally hung out with him. He arrested and imprisoned thousands for "war crimes" such as resisting the draft or calling for an armistice. Stanton was so controversial that some accused him at that time of complicity in Lincoln's assassination.
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A bad narrator can ruin a good book
- By cathy on 11-01-17
By: Walter Stahr
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The Little Princesses
- The Story of the Queen's Childhood by Her Nanny, Marion Crawford
- By: Marion Crawford, Jennie Bond - foreword
- Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Originally published in 1950, The Little Princesses was the first account of British Royal life inside Buckingham Palace as revealed by Marion Crawford, who served as governess to princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.
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The Beginnig of My Interest on the Royal Family
- By A. Bauza Higuera on 12-30-22
By: Marion Crawford, and others
What listeners say about Citizens of London
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- peter
- 01-14-18
This time and these people formed the world into which I emerged six years later. Lynne Olson has created a masterpiece.
Citizens of London describes my parent’s world of wartime London. The insight relating to the actions, motivations of leading wartime personalities including Wynant, Murrow, Churchill and Harriman painted a memorable picture of the conditions, stresses, conflicts, emotions and critical relationships that have shaped our modern world.
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- Keith D. Allan
- 07-29-12
The very best tale of WWII London
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes.This book is for the history buff and the general reader.
What did you like best about this story?
The interweaving of the three main characters,with the prime movers of WWII British war efforts.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
If you had the chance, would you have wanted to be A Citizen of London during the War.
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- Bernie Nap
- 06-11-21
riveting
you feel as if you're living through the war in England, I learned things about our Anglo relationship I never knew, from our American revolution through and after the second world war. You learn to appreciate the sacrifice England made to save democracy and how bad things could have turned out different
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- marykk
- 09-21-20
One of the best of a genre I love
The reader gets a thorough feel for what wartime London was like and how the important players of the era worked together (or didn't). It is hard to imagine now what the British in various cities endured night after night, only to make their way through battered cities and start over again.
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- R. Patton
- 01-21-21
This book presented the War events Wonderful page turning story and
Non fiction is more amazing than fiction. This book brings to life the fear, struggles and emotions from the presidents and generals to the people on the street. The were many diaries and letters left behind gave detailed background this author could research which described the daily traumas of guns bombs love affairs, separation of families and starvation experienced.
Also at this time radio and newscasters and such as Edward R Murrow became more critical in this era.
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- Agnes
- 03-29-21
What you might not know about the Brit/USA alliance in WWII
What this well researched, beautifully written, and
excellently narrated book offers is a balance between the political events occurring mostly in London and Washington during the 6 long years the Brits were leading the fight against Germany and the personal struggles and successes of the principal players in London, 3 of whom were Americans.
It’s very human story helps to illuminate the emotional and psychological cost of war and the aftermath for brave, strong, ambitious and imperfect men who lived their principles in the face of fear and the unknown. It’s well worth your time.
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- Herbert Braverman
- 03-10-22
Must Read...
I rarely prepare a lengthy review of a book for audible or otherwise. On the other hand, This book was absolutely terrific terrific in its retelling of the 5 years that United States and Britain were allies is respect to World War II. The discussion focuses on the several people who were the citizens of London of London at least for a while. As a person who has already read significantly about about 1939 to 1945 and the War Years,
I learned a great deal and I appreciated what I learned and had previously read a great deal more after reading this book. If you are an American exceptionalist, You may not be particularly attracted to the book, But it will still add considerably to to your knowledge and appreciation.
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- Susan
- 03-06-10
If we are together nothing is impossible
If we are together nothing is impossible - those words from Winston Churchill sum up the war effort and are one of the choice quotes used to introduce this book. This extraordinarily well researched history traces the lives of three men but goes much further by exploring the intricacies of the relationships between the governments of England, United States and Russia. It explores the resistance of the American public to entering the war, the ruthlessness of FDR toward the British prior to the war with Lend/Lease, and the sheer desperation and aloneness the British felt. The three men identified, John Gilbert Winant (former governor of NH), Averell Harriman, and Edward Murrow (newsman) stayed in London throughout London's darkest times and seemed to the British people like the only Americans who understood their plight. They petitioned FDR for greater understanding for the British cause. Britain was the last country standing against Hitler and yet assistance was just not coming from the United States. This book is in 3 audio parts with a total of 17 hours of listening. If the author started out to write about the 3 men (Winant, Harriman, Murrow), she ended up writing an excellent history of the war from the perspective of the British and American relationship, including relationships between Churchil, FDR and Stalin, meetings in Tehran and Yalta. Plenty of detail about Eisenhower. While I believe I can detect the author's political persuasion I don't believe it interfered with the book to a great extent, with the possible exception of the introduction. Excellent narration.
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33 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Vivien Tarkirk-Smith
- 06-08-11
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
This is a remarkable book which describes how some insightful, influential and forward thinking Americans came to the aid of Britain during WWII. It also exposes those whose aim was to bring Britain to her knees by taking advantage of the precarious situation Britain was in to bankrupt her and set the stage for a post-war takeover of her trade. "Lend-lease" which meant that the US sold the UK old and decrepit ships for wickedly inflated prices and kept Britain poor following the war when the US helped Germany and Japan rebuild and left Britain starving was only finally repaid a few years ago; this was a deliberate policy of Americans who hated Britain and envied her pre-war status. The skulduggery and malicious intentions of the US are laid bare in this book, and serve to heighten and illuminate the goodwill and precious help that these three men gave to Britain. Had Britain capitulated to Germany as the French had done, with no place in Europe to base an opposition to the Nazis, America would have been in no position to fight them and would (with the delighted collaboration of people like Joe Kennedy, Charles Lindberg and other American heroes) have been forced to get into bed with Hitler. This book should be read by all Americans, especially Hollywood which likes to portray the Americans riding in heroically to save the day, and steals the stories of other nations' heroes with their historically incorrect portrayal of the Great Escape, the Enigma rescue etc., which were due to the British, Poles, etc.. Considering what an important figure in all this the American ambassador was (no! not THAT self-serving despicable person!) - the name of John Gilbert Winant ought to be better known. This good man was an essential element in winning the war and should be more famous. If Britain owes a debt of gratitude to anyone, it is to this man. A statue in London to John Gilbert Winant, anyone?
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2 people found this helpful
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- peter
- 10-18-13
Much more than the title suggests
Well written and thoroughly researched even if it suffers, as do so many historical works, from over exposition. Its three main characters, Harriman, Morrow and Linant, are brought into sharp focus with fascinating anecdotes and unabashed details of their private lives. I felt I could sit down to dinner with these three as if I knew them personally by the end of the book.
Inevitably, the book requires a deep context. Those who already know of the Churchill, Roosevelt and even Stalin relationships may find themselves re-reading; those who have read such experts as Ambrose and Keegan will not need the World War II historical episodes. However, the author relates such diversions to their diplomatic implications tightly and this distraction, if it occurs, will not irritate I suspect.
The reader is clear and relaxing as is needed for such a long treatise. However, as a small point...Lord Salisbury is "...Sauls-bury..."; Sandys is "...Sands..."; Cadogan is "...Kerr-DUGG-un..." I'll do you the favour of not trying to give you his pronunciation and even if Americans have a right to use their own language as they feel fit, proper names should be managed with respect.
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1 person found this helpful