In the months following his resignation as PM in late August 1941, Menzies swayed between relief at his release from the burdens of office as PM and despair that his life at the top had come to so little. Many followers of Australian political history, including Liberal party supporters, forget that Robert Menzies had many years in the political wilderness not knowing he would end up being Australia’s longest-serving prime minister. This book focuses on the period between 1941, when Menzies lost the prime-ministership, to 1949, when he regained it. In the interim he travelled around the world, spending an extended time in Britain during World War II, set up the Liberal Party and, the author argues, developed the leadership qualities that made him so successful. Anne Henderson refers to this time as his real political blooding.

It is 1941. Australia is at war and there are fears of an attack on the homeland. Captain Bobbie Puflett, a doctor serving with the 10th Australian General Hospital of the 8th Division in Malaya, writes to his parents Bob and Ethel and sister Del. When the Allies surrender to the Japanese in February 1942, Bobbie is one of 15,000 men of the 8th Division who disappear. It is eighteen months before his family knows that he is a prisoner of war, but they continue to write. This is one family’s story told through letters. We learn of everyday life in wartime Sydney and service in the allied forces before the fall of Singapore. Most of all the letters bring to life the pain of separation.

Using the Roosevelt-Churchill correspondence, British War Cabinet and Foreign Office files and Roosevelt Map Room papers, Joseph P. Lash takes a fresh look at men and events in the critical months between the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 and Pearl Harbor. He brings out the similarities and contrasts between Roosevelt and Churchill, where they were great or flawed, how each sought to manipulate the other but always in the framework of common purposes, most importantly their understanding of the importance of sea power and of the necessity of Anglo-American naval supremacy. “[Joseph Lash] has written an excellent account, full of shrewd personal and political insights and based on a real command of the sources and an ability to organize his material into a continuously interesting narrative. Much of the story is familiar, but Mr. Lash has added some telling new details from the archives at Hyde Park and in the British Public Record Office...” — The New York Times “[A] rich account of a remarkable collaboration during the pre-Pearl Harbor years of WW II... Throughout Lash examines with candor and admiration how FDR manipulated Congress, the bureaucracy, and public opinion, working with Churchill on the phrasing and timing of steps toward American entry into the war.” — Kirkus “Joseph Lash has once again demonstrated his gift for blending diligent historical research with the human drama of an extraordinary relationship. His chronicle of Roosevelt and Churchill is absorbing and exciting; it will also be an invaluable document for any future exploration of the struggle for democratic survival in this century.” — James A. Wechsler, Editorial Page Editor, New York Post “A splendid work — incisive in its analysis, compelling in its narrative, sensitive in its judgments. It is quite worthy of its protagonists — and what more can one possibly say?” — Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. “[A] perceptive, well organized and well-written exploration both of his two main characters and of a large supporting cast... The book is... a pleasure [...] to read.” — History “The publication of Lash’s book is an important event in the historiography of World War II... Lash has accomplished an impressive historical synthesis.” — Reviews in American History “There is much to praise in this volume, a book which undoubtedly will be widely read... Lash is a first-rate writer and researcher.” — Political Science Quarterly “[A] fascinating book.” — The Virginia Quarterly Review “The major strands of this story have long been familiar, but the author adds many revealing and colorful details... he writes superbly.” — Foreign Affairs “This is a beautifully written book which captures the spirit of the two leaders and is well worth the time spent reading it. Lash offers some thoughtful insights into the personalities of both Churchill and Roosevelt as well as some perceptive comments on their relationship. His picture is clear; Roosevelt and Churchill, for all of their faults, were the great men which the times demanded.” — The American Historical Review

An account of the early years of World War II based on extensive new research: “A genuinely fresh approach . . . exceptional” (The Wall Street Journal). James Holland, one of the leading young historians of World War II, has spent over a decade conducting new research, interviewing survivors, and exploring archives that have never before been so accessible to unearth forgotten memoirs, letters, and official records. In The Rise of Germany 1938–1941, Holland draws on this research to reconsider the strategy, tactics, and economic, political, and social aspects of the war. The Rise of Germany is a masterful book that redefines our understanding of the opening years of World War II. Beginning with the lead-up to the outbreak of war in 1939 and ending in the middle of 1941 on the eve of Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of Russia, this book is a landmark history of the war on land, in the air, and at sea. “Magnificent.” —Andrew Roberts, New York Times–bestselling author of The Storm of War