Van Loon

"Based on extensive research done in the U.S. and the Netherlands, Van Loon: Popular Historian, Journalist, and FDR Confidant offers a portrait of Dutch-born Hendrik Willem van Loon (1882-1944), who made his mark on American cultural life as a popular historian, journalist, artist, and radio commentator. Van Loon's roles were many: as an American Cassandra, he was among the first to warn the American public of the dangers of Nazi Germany, and as a one-man charitable organization he helped numerous European refugees. He was also the cultural and diplomatic bridge between the United States and the Netherlands, and during the war years his radio broadcasts to Nazi-occupied Holland served as a beacon of hope for his former countrymen. Van Loon's circle of friends included some of history's most illustrious characters, such as Sinclair Lewis, Van Wyck Brooks, Archibald MacLeish, Thomas Mann, Albert Einstein, Fiorello La Guardia, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt; FDR once called van Loon "my true and trusted friend." In this new biography, Cornelis A. van Minnen reveals the man who helped create the American cultural landscape."--Jacket.