The Churchill War Papers: Never Surrender

In the first eight months of his prime ministership Winston Churchill surmounted more crises than many leaders face in an entire career: a fast-disintegrating ground war in Europe as the German blitzkrieg overran Holland Belgium and France and drove the British army to retreat and evacuate at Dunkirk; the consolidation of the German occupation of Norway and Denmark; an ongoing state of emergency at home as Britain struggled to modernize its army navy and air forces at breakneck speed; and the pivotal weeks of the Battle of Britain the "finest hour" when Britain stood fast against the unremitting onslaught of the German Luftwaffe. This extraordinary book brings these months before us in the diaries memoranda letters telegrams cabinet minutes and speeches of Churchill and his closest colleagues. It puts us at Churchills side in some of the most tumultuous events of world history and offers an unparalleled view of his leadership qualities and his flaws as he organizes the war effort bolsters morale bullies those who stand in his way schemes to outstrategize his own generals and works tirelessly to involve the United States in the fight against Fascism. This is truly history as it was lived in the war whose outcome formed the modern world.