The Hinge Of Fate

The British prime minister recounts battles from Midway to Stalingrad, and how the Allies turned the tide of WWII: “Superlative.” —The New York Times The Hinge of Fate is the dramatic account of the Allies’ changing fortunes. In the first half of the book, Winston Churchill describes the fearful period in which the Germans threaten to overwhelm the Red Army, Rommel dominates the war in the desert, and Singapore falls to the Japanese. In the span of just a few months, the Allies begin to turn the tide, achieving decisive victories at Midway and Guadalcanal, and repulsing the Germans at Stalingrad. As confidence builds, the Allies begin to gain ground against the Axis powers. This is the fourth in the six-volume account of World War II told from the unique viewpoint of the man who led his nation in the fight against tyranny. The series is enriched with extensive primary sources, as we are presented with not only Churchill’s retrospective analysis of the war, but also memos, letters, orders, speeches, and telegrams, day-by-day accounts of reactions as the drama intensifies. Throughout these volumes, we listen as strategies and counterstrategies unfold in response to Hitler’s conquest of Europe, planned invasion of England, and assault on Russia, in a mesmerizing account of the crucial decisions made as the fate of the world hangs in the balance. “No memoirs by generals or politicians . . . are in the same class.” —The New York Times

Churchill's history of the Second World War is, and will remain, the definitive work. Lucid, dramatic, remarkable both for its breadth and sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, it is universally acknowledged as a magnificent historical reconstruction and an enduring work of literature.'He is not writing history so much as reliving it - with its animosities still remembered, its wounds still smarting. This is a story told while the sweat and shock of mortal combat are still upon the teller.' Evening Standard'That the acclamation has been even greater than might have been anticipated is the measure of his unique achievement - to have given the authority and the majesty of history to the stuff of his own times.' Daily Telegraph

From uninterrupted defeat to almost unbroken success: a year when Rommel is gradually thrown back in North Africa, and in the Pacific the tide turns.

An episodic log of some of the author's more memorable hours aloft in peace and as a member of the Air Transport Command in war.

The aftermath of World War I is explored in the fourth volume of Winston Churchill’s “remarkable” eyewitness account of history (Jon Meacham, bestselling author of Franklin and Winston). Once the war was over, the story didn’t end—not for Winston Churchill, and not for the West. The fourth volume of Churchill’s series, The World Crisis: The Aftermath documents the fallout of WWI—including the Irish Treaty and the peace conferences between Greece and Turkey. The period immediately after World War I was extremely chaotic—and it takes a genius of narrative description and organization to accurately and accessibly describe it for us. Churchill, who went on to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature, depicts the international disorganization and anarchy in the period immediately after the war—with the unique perspective of both a historian and a political insider. “Whether as a statesman or an author, Churchill was a giant; and The World Crisis towers over most other books about the Great War.” —David Fromkin, author of A Peace to End All Peace

A unique and absorbing account of Churchill’s life during World War I, as written by his battalion’s adjutant who would later become his friend. Following his resignation from the Government after the disastrous Gallipoli campaign, Winston Churchill’s political career stalled. Never one to give in, Churchill was determined to continue fighting the enemy. He was already a Major in the Territorial Reserve and he was offered promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and with it command of a battalion on the Western Front. On 5 January 1916, Churchill took up his new post with the 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. The battalion’s adjutant was Captain Andrew Dewar Gibb who formed a close relationship with Churchill that lasted far beyond their few weeks together in the war. Dewar Gibb subsequently wrote an account of his and Churchill’s time together in the trenches. Packed with amusing anecdotes and fascinating detail, Gibb’s story shows an entirely different side to Churchill’s character from the forceful public figure normally presented to the world. Churchill proved to be a caring and compassionate commander and utterly fearless. Despised on his arrival, he was adored by his men by the time he departed . . . Supplemented with many of Churchill’s letters, the observations of other officers and additional narrative, this is the most unusual and absorbing account of this part of Churchill’s life that has ever been told. Praise for With Winston Churchill at the Front “A good book for anyone interested in Churchill, and also for those who might want to learn more about command at the front during the Great War.” —The NYMAS Review “This is a view of Churchill different from every episode in his memorable life.” —Roads to the Great War

A chronicle of the period from January 1942 through May 1943 during which the fortunes of the Allies turned from disaster to success