One of the best-kept secrets of World War II has been the story of how close Britain came to making a peace deal with Germany in 1940. Based on the author's discovery of documentary evidence, this book sets out to reveal a high-level conspiracy and official manoeuvring which brought Britain to the brink of surrendering on Hitler's terms. The collision of events that occurred during the first month of Churchill's premiership is described in the context of ten days in May and June 1940 which can be said to have been crucial to the survival of western democracy. The author seeks to destroy the Churchillian myth of Britain's finest hour and to shed new light on Churchill's battle with his own cabinet - a battle which he almost lost. John Costello's other controversial accounts of World War II and recent history include The Pacific War, Love, Sex and War, I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway and The Mask of Treachery.