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Library | Call Number | Material Type | Home Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Library | D750 .L85 1999 | Adult Non-Fiction | Central Closed Stacks | Searching... |
| Clearfield Library | D750 .L85 1999 | Adult Non-Fiction | Open Shelf | Searching... |
| Eden Library | D750 .L85 1999 | Adult Non-Fiction | Open Shelf | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
The period May 24-28 1940 altered the course of history as members of the British War Cabinet debated whether to negotiate with Hitler or to continue the war. These five days are the focus of Lukacs' book. Conveying their drama and importance he takes us into the unfolding events at 10 Downing Street while investigating the mood of the people.
Author Notes
John Lukacs is the author of more than twenty books on history.
Reviews 4
Booklist Review
Lukacs, who recently retired as a history professor at Chestnut Hill College, is a leading chronicler of modern U.S. and European history. Author of several broader studies of World War II and its major protagonists, he focuses here on a brief period in 1940 when Great Britain had to decide whether to fight on alone or negotiate with Hitler. Churchill had been prime minister for only a few weeks; his support, even within his own party, was wobbly at best. But the meetings of the British War Cabinet from May 24 to 28, 1940, with British troops surrounded at Dunkirk, produced a political and ultimately national commitment to resist the German juggernaut. Lukacs draws on government materials documenting the debates at these meetings, press reports, and the work of Britain's leading polling organization, Mass-Observation. He argues that, although the war could not have been won without the U.S. and Russia, Churchill's efforts in these key Cabinet meetings ensured that the war would not be lost before they joined the fight. --Mary Carroll
Publisher's Weekly Review
Eminent historian Lukacs (Thread of Years, etc.) delivers the crown jewel to his long and distinguished career with this account of five daysÄMay 24-28, 1940Ä"that could have changed the world." Lukacs posits that it was during those five days in London "that Western civilization, not to mention the Allied cause in WWII, was saved from Hitler's tyranny." A grand view, to be sure, but the consequences are not in dispute: "Had Britain stopped fighting in May 1940, Hitler would have won his war," writes Lukacs. "Thus he was never closer to victory than during those five days in May 1940." A quarter-million British troops were trapped by the Germans at Dunkirk. The British public, ill-informed about this reality, remained apathetic, and the War Cabinet was divided over what action to take. Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union had yet entered the war, but Churchill resolved to fight "till Hitler is beat or we cease to be a state." Lukacs draws heavily on newspapers and public opinion research of the time to re-create the rapid series of events that turned the tide, swaying both the citizenry and the War Cabinet to rally behind Churchill. Though Churchill did not win the war in May 1940, as Lukacs puts it, he "did not lose it" then. Lukacs covered some of the same turf in The Duel, yet this new work focuses on these five days with a microscopic view. It is the work of a man who lives and breathes history, whose knowledge is limitless and tuned to a pitch that rings true. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Well-known historian Lukacs focuses on five days of critical decision-making at the outset of World War II. He touched on the theme in his earlier work The Duel; here he greatly expands the discussion as he describes the actions and attitudes of major players Winston S. Churchill, Neville Chamberlain, Lord Halifax, Harold Nicholson, and Alexander Cadogan. The narrative flows well, and obviously Lukacs was working with a wealth of resources. His central thesis is that by obduracy and sheer force of will, Churchill brought those around him and the British people as a whole to the point where they were willing to be the only antagonists facing Hitler, including invasion and beyond. At the time presented here, the evacuation of Dunkirk was in progress, and that topic alone makes for fascinating listening, with the outcome not at all clear to the British. Chamberlain appears to have learned from his earlier follies and is presented sympathetically by Lukacs; Lord Halifax is not. The author also sets the scene in historical and contemporary contexts. With Geoffrey Howard's learned and well-paced reading style, this book should be popular in history collections from high school on up and in public libraries everywhere.ÄDon Wismer, Cary Memorial Lib., Wayne, ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Choice Review
Winston Churchill was not typical of the Conservative Party hierarchy of the interwar years--hence his constant quarrels with the Party and his "Wilderness Years" during the 1930s. This gap in outlook and style did not, of course, cease when WW II brought him back, first to the Cabinet Room, and then, in May 1940, to Number Ten Downing Street as leader of a coalition government. This is the background to the dramatic events of May 24-28 that are the focus of Lukacs's book. In the face of the stunning German operational success in France, the clearly imminent French withdrawal from (and Italian entry into) the war, and the probable loss of the bulk of the British Expeditionary Force, there was a prolonged struggle in the War Cabinet over the wisdom of continuing the war. The protagonists were Churchill and Lord Halifax. Chamberlain generally supported Halifax (who had been his heir apparent), while the two Labour Party members aligned themselves with Churchill. In the end Churchill won and led Britain through its "finest hour." He chose not to discuss the episode in his postwar memoirs, and the story emerged only after the archives were opened in the 1970s. Lukacs's spirited account will appeal to undergraduates and general readers. R. A. Callahan; University of Delaware
Table of Contents
| Preface | p. xi |
| Acknowledgments | p. xv |
| 1 The Hinge of Fate | |
| The turning point. Two accounts | |
| The awesomeness of the German tide | |
| Black Fortnight | |
| Problems of British morale | |
| Distrust of Churchill | |
| Opinions and sentiments | |
| "Outwardly calm, inwardly anxious." | |
| 2 Friday, 24 May | |
| Hitler's halt order | |
| The Germans before Dunkirk | |
| Calais | |
| Hitler and the Conservatives | |
| The two Rights | |
| Chamberlain | |
| Appeasers | |
| Halifax | |
| The War Cabinet | |
| Churchill and Roosevelt | |
| The British press | |
| "A slight increase in anxiety and a slight decrease in optimism." | |
| 3 Saturday, 25 May | |
| An English weekend | |
| The French: Weygand and Petain | |
| Halifax and the Italian ambassador | |
| Churchill and the Defence Committee | |
| "Depression is quite definitely up." | |
| 4 Sunday, 26 May | |
| An agitated day | |
| Three meetings of the War Cabinet | |
| Chamberlain, Halifax, Churchill | |
| Disagreements between Halifax and Churchill | |
| Scarcity of news: "A mandate to delay judgment and not to worry." | |
| "In Westminster Abbey." | |
| 5 Monday, 27 May | |
| What was happening at Dunkirk | |
| The Belgians surrender | |
| American considerations | |
| Three War Cabinets and a walk in the garden | |
| "You'd have been better off playing cricket." | |
| 6 Tuesday, 28 May | |
| Morale, opinion, and the press | |
| "We cannot possibly starve the public in this way." | |
| Foreigners and refugees | |
| Churchill's instructions and the first War Cabinet | |
| His statement in the Commons | |
| The second War Cabinet | |
| Churchill's coup | |
| He comes through | |
| 7 Survival | |
| A long-range view of the war | |
| The meaning of Dunkirk | |
| "It is time to face up to facts." | |
| Halifax redux | |
| An antiquated Britain | |
| Churchill and Europe | |
| Fortissimo | |
| Bibliography | p. 221 |
| Illustration Credits | p. 229 |
| Index | p. 231 |