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A riveting and groundbreaking account of how all but one of Roosevelt's ambassadors in Europe misjudged Hitler and his intentions.

This book is about the rise of the Third Reich in Germany and the road to war from the perspective of four American diplomats in Europe who witnessed it: Joseph Kennedy, William Dodd, Breckinridge Long and William Bullitt. Before the start of the Second World War, they served in the key capitals of Europe - London, Berlin, Rome, Paris and Moscow. In many ways they were America's first line of defence, and they often spoke to the President as directly as Roosevelt's eyes and ears in the world. Unfortunately, most of them underestimated the power and determination of Adolf Hitler and the German Third Reich.

This is a fascinating new history of the period leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe through the lens of the lives of five well-educated and mostly wealthy men vying for people's respect in the Oval Office.