The Red Warrior: U.S. Perceptions of Stalin’s Strategic Role in the Allied Journey to Victory in The Second World War

Although most Americans believe that the United States was almost entirely responsible for defeating Hitler and the German Army in World War II, the Soviet Union also played a crucial role, marking a point of relative cooperation in the complex and fragile relationship between the two powers. [...] This well documented book explains the origin, effectiveness, and results of the Lend-Lease Act of 1941. [...]

The author sheds light on the impact of U.S. aid to Stalin during World War II. Since the focus of the book is on American insights, the author uses English language sources as well as materials translated from Russian. No doubt this valuable contribution regarding U.S.-Soviet relations will spark further research on this compelling topic.

Dr. Monica Bontty

History Professor

The University of Louisiana Monroe

Reagan Fancher’s “The Red Warrior: U.S. Perceptions of Stalin’s Strategic Role in the Allied Journey to Victory in The Second World War” will draw attention from readers interested in World War II as well as American-Russian relations. His book points out that while, on the one hand, American aid to the Stalin’s Red Army proved essential to winning the war against Hitler, on the other hand, this aid unfortunately promoted Soviet expansion of communist influence in Eastern Europe and Asia after World War II. In addition, Fancher’s book explores the importance of Soviet espionage and infiltration of the Roosevelt administration, significant aspects of American-Soviet wartime relations that are sometimes overlooked by other historians. Also, Fancher’s work does a particularly good job discussing American misperceptions of Stalin, connecting them to the “American way of war” when it came to the fight against Hitler. For those interested in the Cold War and post-Cold War conflict with Russia, Fancher relates the legacy of Lend-Lease to Ronald Reagan’s aid to the ‘mujahideen’ during the 1980s in Afghanistan, along with the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. All-in-all, Fancher’s “The Red Warrior” proves to be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of any reader whose attention is drawn to studying a neglected but significant aspect of World War II as well as to an important factor in American-Soviet relations during the Cold War and beyond.

Dr. Ralph W Brown

History Professor

University of Louisiana Monroe

Before reading “The Red Warrior”, I would never have considered the World War II-era Lend-Lease Program a fascinating topic. Reagan Fancher manages to make it just that, describing how American fears regarding a separate peace between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union compelled Roosevelt to drastically oversupply Stalin’s military in its struggle to resist Hitler. While Lend-Lease enabled the Soviets to defeat a common enemy, it also gave America’s duplicitous wartime ally the ability to transform itself into tyrannical superpower.

Dr. Jeffrey E Anderson

History Professor

University of Louisiana Monroe