''Crusade in Europe'' is a book of wartime memoirs by General Dwight D. Eisenhower published by Doubleday in 1948. Maps were provided by Rafael Palacios. ''Crusade in Europe'' is a personal account by one of the senior military figures of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It recounts his appointment by General

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the US Army under Pre ...

to plan the defense of the

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and continues to describe his appointment to, and execution of, the role of Supreme Allied Commander in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors ...

. The book was dictated by Eisenhower to Kenneth McCormick of Doubleday and Joseph Fels Barnes, former foreign editor of the ''

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''. It was revised by Eisenhower's aide Kevin McCann. Eisenhower's profit on the book was substantially aided by an unprecedented ruling by the Treasury Department that Eisenhower was not a professional writer, but rather, was marketing the lifetime asset of his experiences, and thus only had to pay capital gains tax on his $635,000 advance rather than the much higher personal income tax rate. The ruling saved Eisenhower approximately $400,000.

TV series

In 1948,

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

obtained the exclusive rights to create a television series called ''Crusade in Europe'', based on the newly published book. Produced as part of ''

The March of Time ''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945. The "voice" of both series was Westbrook Van Voorhis. ...

'', the 26-episode TV series showed World War II film footage from the US military and other sources, with a voice soundtrack based on a narration of the book. It aired from May 5 to October 27, 1949. ''Crusade in Europe'' was the first extensive documentary series for television. Aired on ABC, the series received a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

and one of the first

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s (Best Public Service, Cultural or Educational Program). The TV series was the subject of a U.S.

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and

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lawsuit filed in 1998. On appeal, in '' Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.'', 539 U.S. 23 (2003), the

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ruled on a narrow issue involving the applicability of the

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to works in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

Home media

''Crusade in Europe'' was released on Region 1 DVD October 4, 2011, by

MPI Home Video MPI Media Group is an American producer, distributor and licensor of theatrical film and home entertainment. MPI's subsidiaries include MPI Pictures, MPI Home Video, Gorgon Video, and the horror film distributor Dark Sky Films. The company is l ...

. As of August 2019, the series is also available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

References

External links

* * 1940s American documentary television series 1948 non-fiction books 1949 American television series debuts 1949 American television series endings American documentary films Books by Dwight D. Eisenhower Doubleday (publisher) books Peabody Award winners Television series by 20th Century Fox Television The March of Time films World War II memoirs Books written by presidents of the United States Documentary television series about World War II American Broadcasting Company original programming {{war-documentary-stub