The author brings to life every major campaign fought by the British Army in the Second World War: from the momentous defeats in France, Belgium and the Far East in the early stages of the war, through to the final victories against Germany and Japan in 1945. All aspects of the conflict are described, from grand strategy at the highest levels right down to the experience of infantry, gunners and tankers in the field as the British army battled its way through the war. The book shows how the seeds of World War II were sown at the end of the previous war, twenty-one years earlier, and how successive governments in the twenties and thirties failed to safeguard Britain from the building threat from Germany. It describes how by the beginning of the conflict Hitler's armies were superior in every respect. But as the catalogue of defeats mounted, the British army were learning hard lessons, and painfully acquiring the skills needed to turn the tables. It is therefore a story which moves from triumph to tragedy, and then upward again to triumph at the last.
- ISBN10 0304352330
- ISBN13 9780304352333
- Publish Date 7 October 1999 (first published 10 June 1999)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 28 November 2006
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Orion Publishing Co
- Imprint Cassell Military
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 440
- Language English