Politics, War, and Personality

“Ken Rendell—master collector, literary sleuth, and historian—has given us a book that I will long treasure and restudy. Thousands of others will do the same.” — John S.D. Eisenhower, retired ambassador, U.S. Army Brigadier General, son of Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Kenneth Rendell’s Museum of World War II simply has no equal.” — Phil Reed, OBE, Director, Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms; Executive Director, The Churchill Centre

“The museum is the repository for the actual Holy Grail documents of World War II.” — Tom Hanks

What if we could read, in his own handwriting, what is perhaps Hitler’s earliest known attack on the Jews, scribbled on an announcement of the Versailles Peace Treaty recently discovered in a file cabinet in his Munich apartment? What if we could hold Churchill’s message to the French president on the last day Allied soldiers were able to escape from Dunkirk; Japan’s official declaration of war “by the grace of Heaven” against the United States; a combat report showing Rommel’s tactical genius; an original map marked with landings and objectives for the D-Day invasion; a letter from General George S. Patton, describing the Battle of the Bulge—as it was happening, or the Christmas greeting Patton had delivered to every one of his troops during that same encounter.

Now, best-selling author Kenneth W. Rendell gathers 50 of the most important and iconic documents of Mankind’s greatest conflict in his compelling and unique Politics, War, And Personality: Fifty Iconic World War II Documents that Changed the World (Whitman Publishing; $29.95 U.S./ $31.18 Canada).

Nothing gives a closer intimacy with the people and events of history than the actual papers that mark the momentous events and the original letters discussing turning points—political, military, and personal. Handwriting says a great deal about people, and original letters can show an unexpected side of historical personalities. Erwin Rommel and Dwight Eisenhower, two commanders writing to their wives from either side of the English Channel on June 9, 1944, three days after the D-Day landings, show great affection with very different forecasts for the future.

Kenneth Rendell tells the dramatic stories of these history-drenched documents, each one part of his outstanding collection in the Museum of World War II, which Tom Hanks has called “the repository for the actual Holy Grail documents of World War II.” Each paper foreshadowed, announced, or altered the course of war—and in doing so, changed the world. Featuring a foreword by John S.D. Eisenhower, son of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Politics, War, And Personality includes:

• A letter by Benito Mussolini, around 1908: “Life in this semi-wild village of my birth is beginning to weigh on me, and to get away from it I got an idea …”
• The 1933 order by which President von Hindenburg gave in to Adolf Hitler’s demands, leading to what would be the last election until after WWII.
• The leaflet distributed in the beer hall in Munich outlining the Nazi Party’s original platform, with Hitler’s colored sketch of the Nazi banner.
• Generally considered the most important document of WWII, the Munich Agreement, with Hitler’s bold handwriting making “concessions,” and the British smaller, finely written notes; Hitler proved his instinct that England and France would concede to avoid war.
• Franklin Roosevelt’s letter to the French president after the defeat by Germany, “France herself will ultimately regain her full independence and freedom.”
• The first urgent message sent during the Japanese attack in 1941: “Air raid on Pearl Harbor X This is no drill.”
• The secret special order that required Douglas MacArthur to evacuate Corregidor, before American troops were forced to surrender to the Japanese and experience the Bataan Death March.
• A poignant letter from General Dwight Eisenhower to his wife—the most revealing of a commander-in-chief in wartime.
• The journal and mission map of the fighter pilot who shot down Admiral Yamamoto’s plane.
• Winston Churchill’s draft memorandum to Josef Stalin, deciding the fate of Poland.
• The communiqué signed by Eisenhower, announcing the D-Day landings on the northern coast of France.
• A note from Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish businessman and diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews—“Mrs. Kellner is to be considered a Swedish citizen and is to be exempted from bearing the distinctive Jewish sign.”
• Hitler’s order of March 30, 1945, one month before his suicide, commanding the fanatical defense of Berlin.
• A letter from Franklin Roosevelt, five days before his death and four months before Hiroshima, writing of “complete victory over our enemies.”
• General MacArthur’s draft of the surrender terms for Japan.
• Hermann Goering’s detention report from Nuremberg.
• Hideki Tojo’s requests while on trial for war crimes.
• Letters from Anne Frank’s father and aunt after the war.
• Harry Truman’s 1957 letter explaining the necessity of dropping the atomic bombs.
• And many more historic and profoundly significant documents.

Including more than 150 archival images and photographs, Rendell places these documents in context with insightful notes and astute commentary. His Politics, War, And Personality is a riveting, remarkable book that brings us into the hearts and minds of those who made history.

ABOUT KENNETH W. RENDELL

Kenneth W. Rendell, the bestselling author of World War II: Saving the Reality, is a dealer in historical letters and documents, well known for debunking the infamous “Hitler diaries” and proving the so-called Jack the Ripper diary to be a hoax. He is founder and director of the Museum of World War II, called “the repository for the actual Holy Grail documents of World War II” by Tom Hanks. Author of Forging History, The Great American West, and With Weapons and Wits, he is also an expert witness called in criminal trials. He has received the Justice Department’s Distinguished Service Award for his work leading to convictions for thefts from the National Archives and the Library of Congress.