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The second volume of “Churchill’s War” narrates the middle years of World War Two. The first volume chronicled a chain of disasters through the fall of France to the debacle in Greece; this second sees great naval victories, El Alamein and the landings in North Africa. As a military historian, Irving has discovered and disclosed to historians and others many documents, which but for his efforts, might have remained unnoticed for years. At his requests both J. Major and T. Blair governments opened files previously sealed.
Description
The human side of Winston Churchill reaches boldly out of these pages – lively, incorrigible, sometimes callous; hectoring his ministers, but meek and subservient to Moscow and Washington. The picture of him that emerges is sometimes unpalatable – willingly fomenting and prolonging the war against Hitler, not in pursuit of any fundamental British interest but to acquire, consolidate, and enjoy power and its fruits after years spent in political wilderness. Two appendices reveal that Roosevelt and Churchill maintained secret communications channels to exchange messages that are still not released to the public
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