Citizens of London is the story of the Americans who broke rank with the isolationists and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with England during the bleak infancy of World War II.
According to Dave Callanan writing for Amazon, “author Lynne Olson more than lives up to the critical acclaim of her last book, Troublesome Young Men, by exploring the origins of an Anglo-American alliance that helped turn the tide during the most widespread conflict in history. Although other “Yanks” rallied against the hesitancy of their isolationist government before Pearl Harbor, few matched the impact of U.S. ambassador John Gilbert Winant, businessman Averell Harriman, and broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. Each recognized the insidious dangers of Nazi aggression, and with the help of meticulous research, Olson elucidates the challenges they endured to help bridge political and cultural gaps between the United States and Britain. At a time when the English capital was described as “swimming in the full tide of history,” Citizens of London echoes Tennyson in its tribute to those who “strove, sought, and refused to yield.”
London Can Take It
Early in the book (p. 49) Ms. Olson talks about the impact on America made by the Quentin Reynolds narrated documentary, London Can Take It. Fortunately, YouTube makes it available to us.
http://youtu.be/jfFfY0GVj5M
Video of Ambassador Winant
More video: Dick found this footage of Ambassador Winant’s extraordinary welcome to London (clicking on the photo below will take you to the British Pathé website). Watching it helps us understand why Winant’s manner is so often described as “awkward” or “shy.”
NEW US AMBASSADOR IN BRITAIN
NPR Interview with Lynne Olson
You also might find interesting this interview with Lynne Olson on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
Pamela Churchill
One more thing: I became intrigued by Pamela Churchill and her very evident appeal to a wide variety of men. Of course, YouTube had something on that subject, too. Here’s what I found.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGA5C_LJnVQ
John G. Winant and St. Paul’s School
Linda G. wanted to learn more about the re-burial of Ambassador Winant in the St. Paul’s School graveyard, so she called the school and talked to David Levesque, the school librarian, who also had provided assistance to Lynne Olson.
He emailed Linda this newspaper notice about the re-burial. Click on the image to see the full-sized version.
Mr. Levesque also sent Linda a link to a story in the St. Paul’s newsmagazine about the rediscovery, restoration, and rehanging of a painting of Ambassador Winant that had been consigned to storage. And, finally, you might be interested in this PDF Mr. Levesque included about the dedication of Winant Park in Concord, N.H.
Pamela Again
I bet you thought we were done with her, didn’t you? Not quite. I’m doing a little experiment and I’m going to use the ever-useful Pamela Churchill for it. Click on the image below to see yet another documentary about our favorite daughter-in-law. Better have about an hour to spare, though, if you’re going to see the whole thing. And be patient through the first 35 seconds…you’re likely to think you’re seeing the wrong video. Here we go:
