Three Days at the Brink: FDR's Daring Gamble to Win World War II

Written by Bret Baier and Catherine Whitney

Narrated by Bret Baier

From the #1 bestselling 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Oct 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9780062905727

Bret Baier

Bret Baier is the Chief Political Anchor for Fox News Channel and the anchor and executive editor of Special Report with Bret Baier. He previously served as Chief White House Correspondent for Fox News Channel and as the network’s National Security Correspondent based at the Pentagon. A recipient of the National Press Foundation’s Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism, Baier is the author of six New York Times bestsellers, including To Rescue the Constitution: George Washington and the Fragile American Experiment and Three Days at the Brink: FDR’s Daring Gamble to Win WWII. He lives with his family in Washington, DC.

Reviews for Three Days at the Brink

[David Beck · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a good historical synopsis of FDR's life, however, it delved into a lot of detail on that life, but the actual part of Three Days at the Brink was relatively minor in total. Bret is a good story teller and as a narrator superb. I would have given it a 5 if he had spent more time on the title matter.