The story of the greatest "team of rivals" since the days of Lincoln. In a lifetime shaped by politics, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proved himself a master manipulator. But when war in Europe and Asia threatened America's shores, FDR found himself in a world turned upside down, where his friends became his foes, his enemies his allies. To help wage democracy's first "total war," he turned to one of history's most remarkable triumvirates. Henry Stimson, an old-money Republican from Long Island, rallied to FDR's banner to lead the Army as Secretary of War, and championed innovative weapons that shape our world today. General George C. Marshall argued with Roosevelt over grand strategy, but he built the world's greatest war machine and willingly sacrificed his dream of leading the invasion of Europe that made his protégé, Dwight Eisenhower, a legend. Admiral Ernest J. King, a hard-drinking, irascible fighter who "destroyed" Pearl Harbor in a prewar naval exercise, understood how to fight Japan, but he also battled the Army, the Air Force, Douglas MacArthur, and his British allies as they moved armies and fleets across the globe. These commanders threw off sparks whenever they clashed: generals against politicians, Army versus Navy--but during four years of bitter warfare, FDR's lieutenants learned to set aside deep personal, political, and professional differences and pull a nation through the twentieth century's darkest days.-- From publisher description.

Introduction -- Prologue : "There must be some mistake" ; Part one. Bringing the war home : 1. "New powers of destruction" --2. Three minutes --3. "The hand that held the dagger" -- 4. "Fewer and better Roosevelts" -- 5. The New Deal war -- 6. "One-fifty-eight" -- 7. The parable of the garden hose -- 8. Inching into war -- 9. Beggars banquet -- 10. Last stand of the old guard --11. Year of the snake -- 12. Kido butai ; Part two. A new doctor : 13. Kicking over anthills -- 14. "Do your best to save them" -- 15. "O.K. F.D.R." -- 16. "There are times when men have to die" -- 17. "Inter arma silent leges" --18. Rolling in the deep -- 19. Sharks and lions -- 20. "Lights of perverted science" -- 21. Midway's glow -- 22. "The burned child dreads fire" -- 23. Chairman of the Board -- 24. Along the watchtower -- 25. Girdles, beer, and coffee -- 26. The devil's bridge -- 27. "Hollywood and the Bible" -- 28. "A war of personalities" -- 29. Blind spots -- 30. Stickpins -- 31. The first casualty -- 32. Landings, Luzon, and Lady Lex -- 33. "A vital difference of faith" -- 34. Plains of Abraham -- 35. The indispensable man -- 36. "Dirty baseball" -- 37. Vinegar Joe and Peanut's wife -- 38. A Russian uncle -- 39. Reno and granite -- 40. "Considerable sob stuff" -- 41. Sorrows of war -- 42. "Dr. Win-the-War" -- 43. Halcyon plus five -- 44. Hatfields and McCoys -- 45. Mr. Catch -- 46. Trampling out the vintage -- 47. Old wounds -- 48. Voltaire's battalions -- 49. Counting stars -- 50. The tsarina's bedroom -- 51. "O captain" ; Part three. Swords, plowshares, and atoms : 52. Truman -- 53. Downfall -- 54. "Come and see" -- 55. "This is a peace warning" -- Epilogue -- Selected allied code names.