will present an author talk
and book signing with
Meredith Hindley author of
DESTINATION CASABLANCA:
EXILE, ESPIONAGE,
AND THE BATTLE
FOR NORTH AFRICA IN WORLD WAR II
Saturday, January 13, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.
Henry A. Wallace Center at the
FDR Presidential Library and Home
HYDE PARK, NY -- The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum will present an author talk and book signing with
Meredith Hindley
author of
DESTINATION CASABLANCA: EXILE, ESPIONAGE, AND THE BATTLE FOR NORTH AFRICA IN WORLD WAR II
, on Saturday, January 13, 2018. The program will begin at 2:30 p.m. in Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home. Following the presentation, Hindley will be available to sign copies of her book.
This is a free public event but registration is required. Visit www.fdrlibrary.org or CLICK HERE to register.
[After the book signing on January 13, the Library will officially close the "Images of Internment" exhibit with a 4:00 p.m. reception and auction event. This is a unique opportunity to own exhibition quality prints -- produced in 2016 from original negatives stored at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland -- by some of the greatest photographers of the 20th century including Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange.]
In November 1942, as a part of Operation Torch, 33,000 American soldiers sailed undetected across the Atlantic and stormed the beaches of French Morocco. Seventy-four hours later, the Americans controlled the country and one of the most valuable wartime ports: Casablanca.
In the years preceding, Casablanca had evolved from an exotic travel destination to a key military target after France's surrender to Germany. Jewish refugees from Europe poured in, hoping to obtain visas and passage to the United States and beyond. Nazi agents and collaborators infiltrated the city in search of power and loyalty. The resistance was not far behind, as shopkeepers, celebrities, former French Foreign Legionnaires, and disgruntled bureaucrats formed a network of Allied spies. But once in American hands, Casablanca became a crucial logistical hub in the fight against Germany -- and the site of Roosevelt and Churchill's demand for "unconditional surrender."
Historian Meredith Hindley explores this rollicking and panoramic history in DESTINATION CASABLANCA. On the 75th anniversary of the classic film that immortalized Casablanca forever, Hindley reveals the true story that served as inspiration -- and it is every bit as thrilling.
The cast of characters includes notable world leaders like General George S. Patton, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill, as well as rich and colorful personalities like Josephine Baker; the womanizing Duff Cooper, Churchill's close confidante; Sigmund Freud's extended family; and many others who had an impact on the city's history.
Rife with rogue soldiers, power grabs, and diplomatic intrigue, DESTINATION CASABLANCA is the riveting and untold story of this glamorous city -- memorialized in the classic film -- at the heart of World War II.
Meredith Hindley is a historian and senior writer for
Humanities
, the quarterly review of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her work has also appeared in the
New York Times
, the
Washington Post
, and elsewhere. Hindley received her Ph.D. from American University.
Please contact Cliff Laube at (845) 486-7745 with questions about the event.
