How Britain, standing alone, persevered in the face of near-certain defeat at the hands of Nazi Germany

From the comfortable distance of seven decades, it is quite easy to view the victory of the Allies over Hitlers Germany as inevitable. But in 1940 Great Britains defeat loomed perilously close, and no other nation stepped up to confront the Nazi threat. In this cogently argued book, Robin Prior delves into the documents of the timewar diaries, combat reports, Home Securitys daily files, and much moreto uncover how Britain endured a year of menacing crises.

The book reassesses key events of 1940crises that were recognized as such at the time and others not fully appreciated. Prior examines Neville Chamberlains government, Churchills opponents, the collapse of France, the Battle of Britain, and the Blitz. He looks critically at the position of the United States before Pearl Harbor, and at Roosevelts response to the crisis. Prior concludes that the nation was saved through a combination of political leadership, British Expeditionary Force determination and skill, Royal Air Force and Navy efforts to return soldiers to the homeland, and the determination of the people to fight on in spite of all terror. As eloquent as it is controversial, this book exposes the full import of events in 1940, when Britain fought alone and Western civilization hung in the balance.