Three Days at the Brink

FDR’s Daring Gamble to Win World War II

By: Bret Baier, Catherine Whitney

Narrated by: Bret Baier

From the number-one best-selling author of Three Days in Moscow and anchor of Fox News Channel’s Special Report with Bret Baier, a gripping history of the secret meeting that set the stage for victory in World War II - the now-forgotten 1943 Tehran Conference, where Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin plotted the war's endgame, including the D-Day invasion.

November 1943: World War II teetered in the balance. The Nazis controlled nearly all of the European continent. Japan dominated the Pacific. Allied successes at Sicily and Guadalcanal had gained modest ground but at an extraordinary cost. On the Eastern Front, the Soviets had already lost millions of lives.

That same month in Tehran, with the fate of the world in question, the "Big Three" - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin - secretly met for the first time to chart a strategy for defeating Hitler. Over three days, this trio - strange bedfellows united by their mutual responsibility as heads of the Allied powers - made essential decisions that would direct the final years of the war and its aftermath. Meanwhile, looming over the covert meeting was the possible threat of a Nazi assassination plot nicknamed "Operation Long Jump", heightening the already dramatic stakes.

Before they left Tehran, the three leaders agreed to open a second front in the West, spearheaded by an invasion of France at Normandy the following June. They also discussed what might come after the war, including dividing Germany and establishing the United Nations - plans that laid the groundwork for the postwar world order and the Cold War.

Bret Baier’s new epic history Three Days at the Brink centers on these crucial days in Tehran, the medieval Persian city on the edge of the desert. Baier makes clear the importance of Roosevelt, who stood apart as the sole leader of a democracy, recognizing him as the lead strategist for the globe’s future - the one man who could ultimately allow or deny the others their place in history. With new details found in rarely seen transcripts, oral histories, and declassified State Department and presidential documents from the FDR Library, Baier illuminates the complex character of Roosevelt, revealing a man who grew into his role and accepted the greatest calling of the last century.

Weaving a fresh narrative of FDR’s rise as a war president and his world-altering relationships with Churchill and Stalin during the decisive turning point in World War II, Baier has produced the biggest book yet in his acclaimed Three Days series.

©2019 Bret Baier and Catherine Whitney (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Pretty good

I give 4/5 starts overall. This is billed as a story about the three big powers coming together to end WWII, but that part doesn’t start until about chapter 6. The first half is a biography of Franklin Roosevelt, which I wasn’t interested in.

Great book!

This is the first book by Brett Baier that I have listened to. It was great! Well documented with interesting details.

FDR meets Uncle Joe and Winston

Good description of the meetings of FDR, Churchill and Stalin toward the end of the war. With an added bonus of a bio of FDR.

This subject matter can be heavy but Bret Baier moves it along at a good pace. It's more a personal history than a discussion of the issues. It's worth a listen.

Great book

Provides a lot of background. Most of the background is about FDR. Overall very good book.

A history lesson and SO much more

I love history and I especially love history books that make me realize how much I din't know about what I was sure I did. In this case, I thought I knew the story of the Tehran Conference where Stalin, Churchill and FDR met in 1943 to "plan" the new Western Front later called "D-Day". In reality, what I knew was a thumbnail sketch. My understanding of the event I now realize is akin to reading the Publishers Description of a book and claiming you read The Book. Bret Baier has a style of writing in this book that even the most ardent of history averse readers will get sucked into. Imagine a book in digital form where every new character introduced can be hoovered over and a separate booklet opens to provide background and context for that character or event. And yes there is the Wiki-whatever and online encyclopedia, but this follows a path, with a narrative, and you click or hoover over nothing. Sit back, let it unfold in your head and all questions you have (and many you didn't know you had) will be told in a story form. It is really the story of the 3 characters from their youth through their convergence in World War II as the only men that could save the world. The infighting and "butthurt" of Churchill, the Coy and Cleverness of FDR, and the constantly manipulative deceitful Stalin. Just such tremendous color to what many might think was a horrendously boring chapter of the war. But wait: There's more - So many events are succinctly explained in a color palette that compliments the main story - the independence and maybe distant Eleanor Roosevelt, D-Day, Ike, Deceptions for D-Day, Japan and the Pearl Harbor Attack... all the way through FDR's death and the beginning of the cold war. It all has a mention and in some cases, an amazingly accurate though brief lesson in this book.
Bret Baier also does a magnificent job reading his book and bringing the pages to life in your mind. Flawless in every respect. This is a book of scholarly dimensions. Great fast read (or listen).