ALLIES AT WAR

A major, fast-paced landmark work of history that focuses less on military events than on the politics and diplomacy that made military victory possible.

After the fall of France in June 1940, Britain was the only European country left to resist Hitler. Desperate for allies, Winston Churchill did everything he could to woo the United States to join the war on Britain's side, to drive the Soviet Union and Germany apart, and to influence neutral countries to join the fight against Hitler or at least stay out of the conflict. By the end of 1941, after the German invasion of Russia and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Grand Alliance was in place. But the 'Big Three' Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were uneasy bedfellows and their partnership was soon plagued by mistrust, rivalry and deceit. Conflicts opened not just over strategy but over the post-war order the extent of the United States' global influence, the fate of Britain's empire, and whether the Soviet Union would extend its territorial ambitions to eastern Europe. The seeds of the Cold War were sown while the bloody battles in Europe and the Pacific still raged. Drawing on many new sources, Tim Bouverie tells the dramatic story through the eyes and voices of the key players: politicians and diplomats, journalists and spies. And while the 'Big Three' naturally take centre stage, we also meet the Free French, Chinese nationalists and Yugoslav partisans. Tim Bouverie read history at Christ Church, Oxford. From 2013-2017 he was a political journalist at Channel 4 News, where he worked alongside Michael Crick, as his producer, and covered all major political events, including both the 2015 and 2017 General Elections and the EU Referendum. He regularly reviews history and politics books, and has written for the Spectator, Observer and Daily Telegraph. He has also for the last five years worked at the Chalke Valley History Festival as an interviewer.