Allies At War (the Politics Of Defeating Hitler)

By (author) Bouverie, Tim
Description:

A landmark history of the alliance that won the war and made the peace by the Sunday Times-bestselling author of Appeasing Hitler

After the fall of France in June 1940, only Britain stood between Hitler and total victory. Desperate for allies, Winston Churchill did everything he could to bring the United States into the conflict, drive the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany apart and persuade neutral countries to resist German domination.

By 1942, after the German invasion of Russia and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the British-Soviet-American alliance was in place. Yet it was an improbable and incongruous coalition, divided by ideology and politics and riven with mistrust and deceit. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were partners in the fight to defeat Hitler, yet they were also rivals who disagreed on strategy, imperialism and the future of liberated Europe. Only by looking at their points of conflict, as well as of co-operation, are we able to understand the course of the war and world that developed in its aftermath.

Allies at War is a fast-paced, narrative history, based on material drawn from over a hundred archives. Using vivid, first-hand accounts and unpublished diaries, we enter the rooms where the critical decisions were made while going beyond the confines of the Grand Alliance to examine, among other themes, the doomed Anglo-French alliance, fractious relations with General de Gaulle and the Free French, and interactions with Poland, Greece and Nationalist China.

Ambitious and compelling, revealing the political drama behind the military events, Allies at War offers a fresh perspective on the Second World War and the origins of the Cold War.

Review quote:
In Allies at War, Tim Bouverie fully lives up to the dazzling reputation he won with Appeasing Hitler. Again, he combines depth of research shrewdness of judgement and lightness of touch. The result is an absorbing read as well as a major work of history, illuminating the drama and complexity of modern history''s greatest and yet most troubled alliance
Review quote:
A sweeping, fast-paced narrative of one of the great turning points of the 20th century. Deeply researched yet highly readable
Review quote:
A grand sweep of history - a brilliant narrative
Review quote:
This is an astonishing piece of scholarship and one that could not be more timely. Compellingly told, immensely wide-ranging and utterly fascinating, Allies at War brilliantly and perceptively tells the incredibly complex relationship of the Allies and coalition nations that led to victory in 1945 but ultimately to the start of a new global rivalry still being felt to this day. Superb
Review quote:
Allies at War cements Tim Bouverie''s reputation as one of the most talented young historians we have. Magisterial in scope, shrewd in its judgements, well-written and often amusing, Allies at War is the best book I have ever read about the politics of the Second World War. It is a book I wish I had written
Review quote:
Excellent. Extremely well-researched, wide-ranging and absorbing
Review quote:
Tim Bouverie has an uncanny ability to dive deeper than most into the swirling currents of history ... He reveals the insecurities, self-deceptions and tangled lies that were part of the Allied cause, alongside the personal dramas and extraordinary courage of its three great leaders. This is the story of a war of wills – it is magnificent!
Review quote:
There is so much that is new in this compelling and fluently crafted story. The extent of Tim Bouverie’s original research is extraordinary and allows him to take the reader into the most intriguing and little known corners of the world at war