A meticulously researched historical tour de force about the secret ties among Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, the Duke of Windsor, and Adolf Hitler before, during, and after World War II.Andrew Morton tells the story of the feckless Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor, his American wife, Wallis Simpson, the bizarre wartime Nazi plot to make him a puppet king after the invasion of Britain, and the attempted cover-up by Churchill, General Eisenhower, and King George VI of the duke's relations with Hitler. From the alleged affair between Simpson and the German foreign minister to the discovery of top secret correspondence about the man dubbed "the traitor king" and the Nazi high command, this is a saga of intrigue, betrayal, and deception suffused with a heady aroma of sex and suspicion.
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ANOTHER WHAT IF!
For many "Windsorphiles", a great deal of the material contained in this book may seem like "old hat". Nevertheless, Andrew Morton has provided an excellent summary overview of the rise and fall of Edward VIII (the Duke of Windsor) from King of the world's largest Empire at the time to someone who was considered to be nothing more than a pariah by the Buckingham crowd. Had he been allowed to marry Wallis Simpson and remain King is one of the several scenarios that allow historians and armchair Monday morning quarterbacks to look back upon with 20/20 hindsight and draw any number of conclusions. One must always bear in mind that decisions and actions made in the midst of a major threat, especially an existential one, cannot be easily analyzed. What does emerge quite clearly and graphically in 17 Carnations is the blatant pettiness of BOTH sides of the Royal Equation; the self-indulgence of the Windsors who come off as being more concerned about their French residences, pink sheets, and Wallis's green bathing suit - at a time when Britain was fighting for its very life against Nazi Germany - than the current status of their own true homeland is only one example among many. In their own way, the Royals were no better. This was a double tragedy. It not only undermined the credibility of Edward/David, whose charismatic presence, knowledge, and political savy were well known and appreciated world-wide, it kept him from being able to be effective in any real way when it came to a possible "negotiated peace" with Hitler or any other political solution he might have proffered. It also allowed Buckingham Palace to have more authority than it probably deserved. George VI was a weak ruler, with a speech defect, aspects of ill health, and as un-charismatic as his brother was charismatic. Queen Mary, his domineering mother, who passed along her vindictiveness towards the Windsors to her daughter-in-law Queen Elizabeth also muddied any relationship that might have existed betwe...
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