Washington Goes to War

Entertaining and acerbic look at Washington, D.C. in the 1939-1945 period. Brinkley was there for a portion of the time, from 1943 as a White House correspondent for NBC News. Much of what he didn't see first-hand comes from contemporary accounts and memories by those he interviewed. Congress does not come off at all well in this analysis, with the possible exception of Speaker Sam Rayburn. One interesting angle explored in the book is the massive bureaucratic muddle that engulfed the government as it went on to war, and how it was never really resolved.

2159 Washington Goes To War, by David Brinkley (read 21 Aug 1988) This was given me as a gift, and since I read (eventually) all the books I own, I decided to read it. I found it much more enjoyable than I expected. While I do not particularly like David Brinkley--generalizer and non-meticulous as he is--I found this account supremely readable. It is the story of Washington from 1940 to 1945--those of course are prime years in my dawning consciousness. My sister went to Washington in 1942. I went there in 1950--when it had not changed all that much. Brinkley is sardonic and funny, and all that, but I could not help but be tremendously moved by his account of FDR's death and funeral. He makes those years seem such distant simple show more times--and I guess they were. What seems so odd now seemed so obvious then. A great book! show less

I'm a former Washingtonian and I found this book to be fantastic!