Spinning History

In this fascinating book, more relevant than ever in today's political climate of "alternative facts," bestselling author and historian Nathaniel Lande explores the Great War at the heart of the twentieth century through the prism of theater. He presents the war as a drama that evolved and developed as it progressed, a production staged and overseen by four contrasting masters: Roosevelt, Churchill, Hitler, and Stalin.

Each leader used all the tools at his disposal to present his own distinctive vision of the global drama that was the Second World War. Each area of the media was fully exploited. Brilliantly conceived oratory was applied to underscore each vision. Impression management, the art of political spin, was employed to drive the message home with the careful use of black and white propaganda. Each side employed uniforms, meticulously staged events, and broadcast their messages via all media available—motion pictures, radio broadcasts, songs, posters, leaflets, and beyond. Their ambitions were similar, but each leader had his own distinct methods, his own carefully created script for elaborately produced and often wildly successful acts and campaigns of deception to win hearts and minds on the frontlines and the home front.

The result of this investigation is a wholly distinctive and often surprising work of history, a book that manages to cast a fresh light on the most obsessively studied conflict in human history.

Nathaniel Lande, PhD, is a journalist, filmmaker, and author of eleven books, including Cricket and Dispatches from the Front: A History of the American War Correspondent. He was creative director of the Magazine Group, TIME Inc.; director of TIME World News Service; and executive producer for CBS and NBC. He was educated at Oxford University, earned his doctorate at Trinity College in Dublin, and has held appointments as professor to the School of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He resides in Santa Barbara, California.

“I lived through World War II as a well-informed teenager, or so I thought. At fifteen, I was hired by my local daily newspaper to replace the sports editor who had enlisted in the Navy. That gave me unique access to the United Press teletype that day and night poured out news of the world in conflict. I listened to FDR’s Fireside chats and network war correspondents on the radio. . . . I watched newsreels and war films. I was acutely aware of what was going on, right? Little did I know. This fascinating book explains how I—and millions around the world—were fed a history lesson full of dramatic propaganda that was aimed at winning our confidence and eventually the war. Another publishing triumph for Nathaniel Lande.” —Richard B. Stolley, former editorial director of TIME Inc.; editor of Life magazine; founding editor of People magazine

“Spinning History illuminates how all sides used social psychology, propaganda, and drama to shape and skew public opinion during World War II, as well as how these myriad efforts interplayed nationally and internationally during the war and in its history. The starring roles of Roosevelt, Churchill, Hitler, and Stalin are detailed thoughtfully and compellingly. The book is original and insightful.” —Richard Cole, PhD, John Kerr Distinguished Professor and Dean Emeritus, School of Media and Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“World War II wasn’t just the century’s greatest conflict, but also its greatest theatrical production. Spinning History is an illuminating, readable, and still very relevant account of the ways in which theatrical staging, dramatic storytelling, and message manipulation were key to the efforts of both sides during those turbulent years.” —Richard Zoglin, senior editor, TIME magazine

“This book by awarding-winning Renaissance man, Nathaniel Lande, takes a familiar subject, World War II, and presents it in a new light—indeed in a spotlight. Taking war as the ultimate piece of theatre, it concentrates on the principal characters from both sides, but finds room for a wide-ranging consideration of minor cast members and plots. It is a timely reminder that the conflict was the first modern war, in which propaganda and media manipulation played a huge part, not only on opening night, but in ensuring that it had an extended run.” —Dr. Andrea Tanner, senior research fellow, Institute of Historical Research, University of London