100 http://www.britainatwar.com
RECONNAISSANCE REPORT|ITEMS OF INTEREST
THE END IS NIGH
BRITISH POLITICS,
POWER, AND THE
ROAD TO THE
SECOND WORLD WAR
Robert Crowcroft
THIS IS a story of ambition,
intrigue, and rivalry, superbly
presented and analysed by the
author – a senior lecturer in history
at the University of Edinburgh.
Crowcroft sets out to dispel
the well-established impression
of British politics in the 1930s –
namely that the oratory skill and
reasoned foresight of one man,
Winston Churchill, shaped those
years from his position in political
“exile”.
and Churchill’s struggle to power,
the beginning of the U-boat
scourge that plagued imports
and exports, and the political and
military manoeuvring that set
the groundwork for the triumph
and trepidation to come – and,
importantly, had a tight grip on
life at home.
Amid this, the author uses
contemporary letters from his
collection to highlight the bizarre
absurdities, official (and often
contradictory) incompetence and
censorship of the early dark daysthat followed the invasion of Poland
in September 1939. Turner shows
how, in spite of the high threat of
bombing and invasion, it was – at
first – mistrust and declining morale
that thrived in the fear and danger
looming over Britain.
An interesting read.
(Both books reviewed by John Ash)Publisher: Icon Books
http://www.iconbooks.com
ISBN: 978-1-78578-548-1
Hardback: 370 pages
RRP: £20He begins in the earlier interwar
period where the Conservatives
held power for 18 of those 21
years. The dominance of the
party and of its iconic figures
of the time led to the conditions
for the slow rise of Churchill –
and his story is naturally very
much entwined with the events
and figures in this book – all
through the interwar timeline
and into the miserable early days
of armed conflict, ending with
Churchill sitting in No.10, facing
the greatest crisis Britain has
ever endured.
Churchill is a central figure;
no history of the period could
ignore that. The stateman’s role
in proceedings was critical, but
this provocative book opts toRETRO 51 TORNADO
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The pen takes a Schmidt P8127
rollerball refill or its easyFLOWWAITING FOR WAR
BRITAIN 1939-1940
Barry Turner
WHILE THE ‘Phoney War’ is hardly an
ignored element of British wartime
history, a new title on this period
is nonetheless welcome, and Brian
Turner – author of Suez 1956, Karl
Doenitz and the Last Days of the
Third Reich, and The Berlin Airlift- has turned his attention to this
fascinating tale of the home front.
Turner weaves the intricacies of
Chamberlain’s wartime government
focus more on the roles of Neville
Chamberlain, Stanley Baldwin,
Clement Attlee, Anthony Eden,
Ernest Bevin and many more, as
the murky underworld of British
politics of the time is explored.
These and others were
the men who – by design or
inadvertently – were Winston’s
kingmakers. Scandal, sickness,
maintaining resolve and keeping
up appearances; the nuances of
Westminster were as cut-throat
then as they appear today. “Life”,
Chamberlain wrote “is one long
nightmare”, but this very universe
of cynicism, high politics and
hidden motives, is truly what
shaped Britain’s response to
Hitler – and barely in time.
An outstanding title.Publisher: Oxford University Press
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ISBN: 978-0-19882-369-8
Hardback: 284 pages
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