After the fall of France in 1940, Britain alone stood between Hitler and total victory. Winston Churchill did everything he could to bring the United States into the conflict, drive the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany apart and persuade neutral countries to resist German domination. By 1942, after Germany invaded Russia and Japan attacked Pearl Harbour, the British-Soviet-American alliance was in place. And with it came a new set of problems: this incongruous coalition was divided by ideology and politics and riven with mistrust and deceit. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were united in the fight to defeat Hitler but remained in conflict, disagreeing on almost everything else.

Only by recognising this deep-seated rivalry can we understand the post-war situation. Using archival material, as well as vivid first-hand accounts, Allies at War provides a close-up shot of the doomed Anglo-French alliance, fractious relations with de Gaulle and the Free French, and interactions with Poland, Greece and Nationalist China.

‘An astonishing achievement.

Compellingly told, immensely wide-ranging and utterly fascinating … Superb’

James Holland