1942: Britain at the Brink
Taylor Downing
- 20 januari 2022
- 9781405548366
Samenvatting:
Praise for Taylor Downing
'The Bruneval Raid was the start of the airborne brotherhood. Taylor Downing's vivid account brings alive this important turning point in military history with flair and pace' Andy McNab, author of Bravo Two Zero, on Night Raid
'A vivid and fast-paced retelling of Churchill's remarkable career' David Evans, Financial Times, on Churchill's War Lab
'Taylor Downing's gripping and frankly terrifying book on the US-Soviet nuclear confrontation' Tom Holland on 1983: The World at the Brink
'An impressive, balanced and often deeply moving book . . . anyone who wishes to understand it and its terrible consequences should buy Breakdown' The Times on Breakdown
'Taylor Downing vividly brings to life a terrible year' Max Hastings, Sunday Times
'Taylor Downing is a wonderful historian and a wonderful history communicator.' Dan Snow, History Hit
Eighty years ago, Britain stood at the brink of defeat. In 1942, a string of military disasters engulfed Britain in rapid succession : the collapse in Malaya; the biggest surrender in British history at Singapore; the passing of three large German warships through the Straits of Dover in broad daylight; the longest ever retreat through Burma to the gates of India; serious losses to Rommel's forces in North Africa; the siege of Malta and the surrender at Tobruk. All of this occurred against the backdrop of catastrophic sinkings in the Atlantic and the Arctic convoys. People began to claim that Churchill was not up to the job and his leadership was failing badly. Public morale reached a new low. 1942 Britain At the Brink explores the story of frustration and despair in that year prompting the Prime Minister to demand of his army chief 'Have you not got a single general who can win battles?' Using new archival material, historian Taylor Downing shows just how unpopular Churchill became in 1942 with two votes attacking his leadership in the Commons and the emergence of a serious political rival.
Most people think that Britain's worst moment of the war was in 1940 when the nation stood up against the threat of German invasion. In 1942 Britain at the Brink, Taylor Downing describes in nail-biting detail what was really Britain's darkest hour .