Author Susan Ronald

Friends of the Ferguson Library to Host an Afternoon with Author Susan Ronald
on Aug. 5 via Zoom

STAMFORD, July 23, 2021 – The prolific historian and biographer Susan Ronald will discuss her newest book, The Ambassador: Joseph P. Kennedy at the Court of St. James's 1938-1940, an exploration into Joseph Kennedy’s brief yet deeply controversial tenure as U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain as Europe hurtled toward World War II. The afternoon presentation will be streamed via Zoom on Aug. 5 at 2 p.m.

In The Ambassador, after meticulous research and using newly available sources, Ronald reveals that Joseph P. Kennedy, considered at the time a curious choice for the ambassadorship, was initially welcomed by the British. But Kennedy, who firmly believed fascism was an inevitability, was soon reviled by the White House, the state Department and the British government for consistently misrepresenting official U.S. foreign policy as well as direct instructions from FDR. The Americans were the first to disown him, and the British and the Nazis soon used Kennedy to their own ends.

Ronald, whose past works include biographies of Condé Nast, Queen Elizabeth I, and Hildebrand Gurlitt, one of the Third Reich’s most prolific art looters, is an American-born writer who has lived in England for the last 25 years.

The program, which will be followed by a Q&A session, is part of the Friends Author Series and is currently presented via Zoom.

Registration is required. Sign up at fergusonlibrary.org/events. Zoom login details will be provided in the registration confirmation email.

For more information, call 203-351-8231.