On the eve of World War II, the British army was more an international police force than a combat ready fighting force. This book examines its transformation in a look at Great Britain's top commanders in the field.

John Keegan has assembled a cast of seventeen generals whose reputations were made (and some of them broken) by Churchill and the Second World War. Churchill's reputation as prime minister during the Second World War fluctuated according to the successes and failures of his generals. Most of them were household names, and often heroes, during the war years. All of them were prey to the intolerance, interference, irascibility - and the inspiration - of the man who wanted to be both the general in the field and the presiding strategic genius. He sacked his warlords ruthlessly, yet in the end he came to be served by perhaps the greatest generals this country has ever produced. Includes chapters on Wavell, Ironside, Ritchie, Auchinleck, Montgomery, Alexander, Percival, Wingate, Slim and Carton de Wiart. Note: The Publisher regrets that the biographical note for Gary Sheffield is incorrect in the book. Please refer to the Orion website (www.orionbooks.co.uk) for the correct version.

This book vividly brings alive the dramatic situation facing Europe and the Allies after the loss of Dunkirk. Churchill and his generals—Alexander, Brooke, Wavell and Montgomery—were faced with many disasters that required courageous decisions in order to pursue their aim of victory. This is the inside story of the situations they faced, the decisions they made and the outcome of those choices. An incredible portrayal of the courage, the nerve and the commitment of those brave men who affected the course of history.

A limited edition hardcover book exploring Churchill's relationships with his generalsThis is the incredible story of the darkest days of World War II when Winston Churchill and his generals—Montgomery, Alexander, Wavell, and Brooke—were facing catastrophe on every front. They suffered defeat at Dunkirk and survived the Battle of Britain. With enormous amounts of courage and skill they fought off the Luftwaffe and managed to hold on until the Allied invasion of Europe. On May 10th, 1940 Churchill became Prime Minister and took control of Britain's War Effort. He appointed key men to command the forces upon which the free world's survival depended. Men like Montgomery, Slim, Auchinleck, Alanbrooke, and Alexander were given the highest command to wage war “against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime.” This is the story of his relationships with these remarkable men and the American generals who followed them including Dwight Eisenhower and George Marshall.

Bogen omfatter biografier på 18 af Churchills betydeligste generaler under 2. Verdenskrig forfattet af 17 forskellige forfattere.

'Masterful research, impeccable detail, with a beautifully flowing narrative of which Churchill himself would have been proud.' - Professor Peter Caddick-Adams From his earliest days Winston Churchill was an extreme risk taker and he carried this into adulthood. Today he is widely hailed as Britain's greatest wartime leader and politician. Deep down though, he was foremost a warlord. Just like his ally Stalin, and his arch enemies Hitler and Mussolini, Churchill could not help himself and insisted on personally directing the strategic conduct of World War II. For better or worse he insisted on being political master and military commander. Again like his wartime contemporaries, he had a habit of not heeding the advice of his generals. The results of this were disasters in Norway, North Africa, Greece and Crete during 1940–41. His fruitless Dodecanese campaign in 1943 also ended in defeat. Churchill's pig-headedness over supporting the Italian campaign in defiance of the Riviera landings culminated in him threatening to resign and bring down the British Government. Yet on occasions he got it just right: his refusal to surrender in 1940, the British miracle at Dunkirk and victory in the Battle of Britain, showed that he was a much-needed decisive leader. Nor did he shy away from difficult decisions, such as the destruction of the French Fleet to prevent it falling into German hands and his subsequent war against Vichy France. In this fascinating new book, acclaimed historian Anthony Tucker-Jones explores the record of Winston Churchill as a military commander, assessing how the military experiences of his formative years shaped him for the difficult military decisions he took in office. This book assesses his choices in the some of the most controversial and high-profile campaigns of World War II, and how in high office his decision making was both right and wrong.