Bargaining for Supremacy; Anglo-American Naval Collaboration, 1937-1941
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1977. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 24 cm. cii, [1], 328 pages. Usual library markings. Boards somewhat worn and soiled. Part of bookplate removed. A native of Charleston, S.C., Dr. Leutze holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, a master’s degree from the University of Miami and a doctoral degree from Duke University. He served in the U.S. Air Force, rising to the rank of captain, and worked as a legislative assistant for Sen. Hubert Humphrey. As a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Leutze was recognized for his excellence in undergraduate teaching. He was named chair of the Curriculum for Peace, War and Defense and, in recognition of his teaching and research, was appointed the first Dowd Professor of War and Peace. Prior to coming to UNCW in 1990, Dr. Leutze was president of Hampden-Sydney College. Dr. Leutze was a prolific researcher and writer. He has published numerous books and articles on international affairs and national security, including Bargaining for Supremacy: Anglo-American Naval Collaboration 1937-41 and A Different Kind of Victory: The Biography of Admiral Thomas C. Hart. This is the story of the struggle for leadership between the United States and Great Britain during the period that preceded the American entry into World War II. Britain and America were engaged in seeking a unified strategy for use against real and potential enemies in the Atlantic and Pacific areas. That objective became hopelessly entangled with the issue of leadership within the allied coalition. In late 1940 American military planners found a way to combine sound strategy and defiance of British leadership by suggesting that America's great power be exerted in the Atlantic and that British navel forces be shifted to the Pacific. By this changing of the guard, the U.S. Navy would be competing for the first time on an equal and potentially superior level with the Royal Navy in the sea-lanes between Europe and North America. Agreement on the change in strategy was worked out at a secret conference eight months before the United States was attacked at Pearl harbor. Britain's reason for accepting the strategy as revealed in this book is that Winston Churchill was so intent upon the goal of bringing America into the war that he was willing to pay virtually any price. In this study of strategy formulation the author reads between the lines of official documents into the natures of the men who were chosen to pursue and protect their nations' interests. Dr. Leutze's telling interpretation of these documents reveals the reasons for the suspicion, obstinacy, and self-serving attitudes and characterize the Anglo-American relationship in a crucial hour in history. Condition: good, ex-lib.
Keywords: WWII, Winston Churchill, Joseph Kennedy, Robert Ghormley, Alan Kirk, Harold Stark, Franklin Roosevelt, Naval History, Admiralty, William Donovan, Raymond Lee, Lend-Lease, Lord Lothian, War Plan Orange, Richmond "Kelly" Turner
ISBN: 0807813052
[Book #32585]
Price: $45.00