Sleep in Peace Tonight A Novel

Its January 1941, and the Blitz is devastating England. Food supplies are low, Tube stations in London have become bomb shelters, and U-boats have hampered any hope of easy victory. Though the United States maintains its isolationist position, Churchill knows that England is finished without the aid of its powerful ally.

Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelts most trusted adviser, is sent to London as his emissary, and there he falls under the spell of Churchills commanding rhetoric---and legendary drinking habits. As he experiences life in a country under attack, Hopkins questions the United States silence in the war. But back home FDR is paranoid about the isolationist lobby, and even Hopkins is having trouble convincing him to support the war.

As Hopkins grapples with his mission and personal loyalties, he also revels in secret clubs with newsman Edward R. Murrow and has an affair with his younger driver. Except Hopkins doesnt know that his driver is a British intelligence agent. She craves wartime action and will go to any lengths to prove she should be on the front line. This is London under fire, and its only when the night descends and the bombs fall that peoples inner darkness comes to light.

In Sleep in Peace Tonight, a tale of courage, loyalty, and love, and the sacrifices one will make in the name of each, James MacManus brings to life not only Blitz-era London and the tortuous politics of the White House but also the poignant characters and personalities that shaped the course of world history.

Advance Praise for Sleep in Peace Tonight "A gripping, racy retelling of history. Closely researched, the book gives a vivid and moving picture of that period in 1941 when Britain really was facing the abyss and when the foundations of the UK-US special relationship were laid. London of the Blitz comes vividly to life, as does the angst-ridden figure of Roosevelts special envoy to Churchill, Harry Hopkins. Compulsive reading."—Simon Mawer, author of The Glass Room

JAMES MACMANUS is the managing director of The Times Literary Supplement. He is the author of Ocean Devil, which was made into a film starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Language of the Sea, and Black Venus. He lives in London.