Winston S. Churchill: Finest Hour, 1939–1941

Martin Gilbert

Apr 2015 · Winston S. Churchill Biography Book 6 · Rosetta Books

About this ebook

The sixth volume in the official biography: “A milestone, a monument, a magisterial achievement” (Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War).
 
Starting with the outbreak of war in September 1939 and ending with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, this volume in the epic biography of Winston S. Churchill draws on remarkably diverse material: from the War Cabinet and other government records to Churchill’s own archive and diaries and letters of his private secretariat to the recollections of those who worked most closely with him.
 
On the day Hitler invaded Poland, Churchill, aged sixty-four, had been out of office for ten years. Two days later, he became First Lord of the Admiralty, in charge of British naval policy and at the center of war direction. In May 1940 he became prime minister, leading his nation during a time of grave danger and setbacks. His first year and a half as prime minister included the Dunkirk evacuation, the fall of France, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the Battle of the Atlantic, the struggle in the Western Desert, and Hitler’s invasion of Russia.
 
By the end of 1940, Britain under Churchill’s leadership had survived the onslaught and was making plans to continue the war against an enemy of unlimited ambition and ferocious will. One of Churchill’s inner circle said: “We who worked with Churchill every day of the war still saw at most a quarter of his daily tasks and worries.” Martin Gilbert has pieced together the whole, setting in context much hitherto scattered and secret evidence, in order to give an intimate and fascinating account of the architect of Britain’s “finest hour.”
 
“The most scholarly study of Churchill in war and peace ever written.” —Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times

About the author

Sir Martin Gilbert is a leading British historian and the author of more than eighty books. Specializing in 20th century history, he is also the official biographer of Winston Churchill and has written a bestselling eight-volume biography of the war leaders life.Born in London in 1936, Martin Gilbert was evacuated to Canada with his family at the beginning of World War II as part of the British governments efforts to protect children from the brutal bombings of the Luftwaffe. He was made a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, in 1962. He is the author of several definitive historical works examining the Holocaust, the First and Second World Wars, and the history of the 20th century.In 1990, Gilbert was designated a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and was awarded a Knighthood in 1995. Oxford University awarded him a Doctorate in 1999. Today, he is a sought-after speaker on Churchill, Jewish history, and the history of the 20th century, and he travels frequently to lecture at colleges, universities, and organizations around the world.