The Visionaries
The Making of the Post World War II Order in the West
Published on 7. May 2026
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-0-85750-971-0 (ISBN)
Description
A sweeping look at what happens when we forget the lessons of history, from the Sunday Times bestselling author James Holland
'The remedy we need at the time we need it' The Atlantic
'A brilliant reassessment of the two wartime US presidents... and timely reminder' Saul David
'Essential reading for anyone who cares about leadership and the future' Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director
The post-war world wasn't an accident - it was designed. So what happens when we forget the lesson?
Although the Second World War was still a long way from being won, even by early 1941, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was already planning for peace. America's entry into the war may still have been almost a year away, but he could already see the new world order that needed to emerge from the smouldering ashes of Europe.
Three years later, the Marshall Plan would emerge, a forward-thinking combination of global philanthropy and canny self-interest, which kickstarted unprecedented European growth and a chance for the world as a whole to rebuild after the ruinous catastrophe of war.
From the world on the eve of war in 1914 through to the Versailles Treaty, to the Great Depression and the political earthquakes that followed, The Visionaries takes a broad sweep of history with important lessons for today. It's a reminder that while history does not repeat itself, patterns of human behaviour certainly do.
'The remedy we need at the time we need it' The Atlantic
'A brilliant reassessment of the two wartime US presidents... and timely reminder' Saul David
'Essential reading for anyone who cares about leadership and the future' Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director
The post-war world wasn't an accident - it was designed. So what happens when we forget the lesson?
Although the Second World War was still a long way from being won, even by early 1941, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was already planning for peace. America's entry into the war may still have been almost a year away, but he could already see the new world order that needed to emerge from the smouldering ashes of Europe.
Three years later, the Marshall Plan would emerge, a forward-thinking combination of global philanthropy and canny self-interest, which kickstarted unprecedented European growth and a chance for the world as a whole to rebuild after the ruinous catastrophe of war.
From the world on the eve of war in 1914 through to the Versailles Treaty, to the Great Depression and the political earthquakes that followed, The Visionaries takes a broad sweep of history with important lessons for today. It's a reminder that while history does not repeat itself, patterns of human behaviour certainly do.
Reviews / Votes
James Holland has delivered a masterwork. The Visionaries is the gripping, behind-the-curtain story of the men and women who rebuilt the world after the carnage of World War II-and, in the process, engineered an age of unprecedented peace and prosperity. Holland shows that the postwar order didn't happen by accident; it was designed with courage, clarity, and an audacious belief in human progress. This book reminds us that leadership matters, ideas matter, and that vision-real vision-can bend the arc of history. A must-read for anyone trying to understand how stability is built, how prosperity scales, and how we can protect what those architects created. Essential reading for anyone who cares about leadership and the future. -- Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Communications Director A brilliant reassessment of the two wartime US presidents - FDR and Truman - whose far-sighted ideas helped to rebuild a shattered world and deliver 80 years of (mostly) peace and prosperity for the West, and a timely reminder during a time of flux that freedoms dearly won are much more easily lost. -- Saul David The statesmen who rebuilt western Europe and northeast Asia after 1945 got more things right than any leaders ever before or since. At this moment when so many seem to have forgotten their lessons - and forsaken their legacy - James Holland retells their magnificent story vividly and accessibly. The remedy we need at the time we need it. -- David Frum * The Atlantic * Highly readable and deeply researched...Holland has provided grist for readers of all political and national persuasions to understand the structures upon which today's international order was formed and the dangers that exist if they are to be cavalierly done away with. One hopes that the work put into this book will be read, digested, and acted upon. -- James Webb, former Senator and Secretary of the Navy In The Visionaries, James Holland brings to bear his prodigious knowledge of the long Second World War era to provide not only a fresh look at that crucial period but also a series of reflections for our own time. Threats to democracy can emerge quickly and powerfully, and if we are not on our guard, as Holland demonstrates, they can threaten the entire international order. -- Professor Phillips Payson O'BrienMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Transworld Publishers Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 242 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 31 mm
Weight
542 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-85750-971-0 (9780857509710)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/2026
Bantam Books
€20.50
Available immediately
E-Book
05/2026
Transworld Digital
€14.99
Available for download
Person
James Holland is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning historian, writer, and broadcaster. The author of a number of best-selling histories including most recently The Savage Storm and Cassino '44, he is also the author of ten works of fiction and a dozen Ladybird Experts.
He is the co-founder of the annual Chalke Valley History Festival which is now in its twelfth year, and he has presented - and written - many television programmes and series for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic and the History and Discovery channels.
With Al Murray, he has a successful Second World War podcast, We Have Ways of Making You Talk, which also has its own festival, and is a research fellow at St Andrew's University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He can be found on Twitter as @James1940 and on Instagram as @jamesholland1940.
He is the co-founder of the annual Chalke Valley History Festival which is now in its twelfth year, and he has presented - and written - many television programmes and series for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic and the History and Discovery channels.
With Al Murray, he has a successful Second World War podcast, We Have Ways of Making You Talk, which also has its own festival, and is a research fellow at St Andrew's University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He can be found on Twitter as @James1940 and on Instagram as @jamesholland1940.