No American president was ever more suited in temperament and character for secret warfare than Roosevelt. His talent for intrigue, his seductive charm, his exuberance and unquenchable spirit literally mandated the large role he played as a spymaster.

Roosevelt's Secret War presents a whole new perspective on the full panorama of World War II. We learn how Roosevelt personally set up the first presidential spy ring and sent his close friend Vincent Astor on an intelligence mission. We discover what FDR really knew about Pearl Harbor. Joseph Persico also chronicles the importance of characters like Wild Bill Donovan, who formed the O.S.S. and became Roosevelt's direct pipeline to what was happening in the world, and of FDR's clandestine dealings with Stalin and how he was one of the first to know of Hitler's plan to invade the Soviet Union.

These are just a few of the literally hundreds of similar revelations in this fresh, substantial, and constantly surprising look at Roosevelt and his major role in the hidden history of World War II.