History of the Second World war
4 total works
CLOSING THE RING covers the decisive 12 months between June 1943 and June 1944. Command of the seas had returned to Allied hands, the U-boats were mastered and the Luftwaffe beaten. These achievements made possible the 'closing of the ring' which was to extinguish Axis resistance and eventually end the war.
The danger was no longer defeat but stalemate. Russian armies were driving the German invaders back into their own country, Italy was freed from the fascist yoke and Africa was cleared. However, before the Allies lay the formidable task of invading the aggressors in their own land. Frankly and unreservedly, Sir Winston Churchill reveals the tensions and divergences of opinions concerning how best to achieve this among the three great partners, Britain, USA and Russia.
THE HINGE OF FATE marks in Sir Winston Churchill's words, 'the turning-point of the Second World War.' It details a period during which almost uninterrupted defeat gave way to almost unbroken success for the Allies.
While the Afrika Korps advanced almost to the outskirts of Alexandria and the Japanese struck by land and by sea, despair came to all but the most resolute. However, from this nadir there followed an ever-steady climb. Rommel was thrown back and defeated at Alamein. The British fought shoulder to shoulder for the first time with their American allies in North Africa and the tide turned in the Pacific.
For eight grim months Great Britain stood alone as the only European power still carrying on the struggle against Nazi Germany. Eight months in which the Luftwaffe tried and failed to drive the RAF from the skies; eight months in which the Nazi fleet tried to starve Britain into submission.
Focusing on the period from May 1940 to the end of the year, THEIR FINEST HOUR embraces Sir Winston Churchill's first days as Prime Minister, France's defeat, British troops' mass evacuation from Dunkirk and the uneasy summer when the enemy was daily expected upon our shores. However, it also features the first gleams of light as the danger of invasion faded and the year closed with Desert Victory.
The descriptions of these times and events, both desperate and hopeful, are drawn from the pen of the man who shaped them and who led his people in resistance to every challenge, bringing the period to a close with the first victorious counter-attack.