Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations

by Stephen C. Schlesinger

Book Overview

In Act of Creation, Stephen C. Schlesinger tells a pivotal and little-known story of how Secretary of State Edward Stettinius and the new American President, Harry Truman, picked up the pieces of the faltering campaign initiated by Franklin Roosevelt to create a "United Nations." Using secret agents, financial resources, and their unrivaled position of power, they overcame the intrigues of Stalin, the reservations of wartime allies like Winston...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813332753
• ISBN13: 9780813332758
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

The Birth of the United Nations

This book takes the reader through the San Francisco conference that established the United Nations (UN) and shows how the organization came into being. This is not meant to serve as a history of the UN and it does not take a position on whether it is good or bad. It merely discusses the differences that the nations had in the big power arena and focuses on a couple of the bigger disputes. The decision to add Belarus and Ukraine to the delegation but not Poland is explored as well as what to do with Argentina. The Truman administration inherited a tough war and an even tougher peace. The United Nations framework was built on the Yalta agreements which Truman was not even at. Sttennius and his state department team would be the real victors with the establishment of the UN despite Truman's desire to install a new secretary of state. The book has several areas where the language is unclear and it is hard to follow the authors point but largely it is well done and good analysis. The author knows his subject well and it is an excellent look at how diplomatic history should be done. If you really want to learn about how the UN was started this is the book to use.

would you like to go to the back satge of the UN creation?

If your answer to the title of this review is YES, so you should buy this book. I just got it a few days ago and i can't stop reading it. It's amaizing how the author tells all the story behind the creation of the UN. Specially all the effort of FDR to gather some of the most powerful nations in wartime. If you belive in the values of the united nations, so you would like to know who its fathers are.

A Great Book!

I enjoyed this book immensely! It kept my interest from the time you learn of Roosevelt's death to Truman's speech at the inauguration of the United Nations. You learn about some of Roosevelt's thoughts on the need for the UN. Most importantly you learn about the true architects of the UN charter. You learn of the people involved and the opposing viewpoints that shaped the language of the charter. It is not a stuffy book nor a read with big words. It is a down to earth, straight forward review of the UN's beginning. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in world politics.

An in-depth and detailed saga

Act Of Creation: A Story Of Superpowers, Secret Agents, Wartime Allies And Enemies And Their Quest For A Peaceful World by Stephen C. Schlesinger (former speech writer and foreign policy advisor to New York Governor Mario Cuomo), is an informed and informative study of the foundation of the United Nations, and diverse nations (some who had been formally hostile to one another during the horrific years of World War II) came together in their struggle to create a world where nations settled their difference in discussion rather than on the battlefield. An in-depth and detailed saga of nations and individuals, closely researched in accordance with an impeccable scholarship, and superbly organized for contemporary readers, Act Of Creation is a welcome contribution to Political History reference collections and International Studies reading lists.