FAQ

Q: Who is John Lukacs?

A: John Adalbert Lukacs (born January 31, 1924) is an eminent Hungarian-born American historian and Anglophile. Lukacs lists Winston Churchill as his favourite historical figure, saviour of Western civilization and the greatest statesman of the 20th century. He is also an authority on Adolf Hitler, leading to series of books focussing on the struggle between Churchill and Hitler, in "The Last European War" (1976), "The Duel" (1991), "Five Days In London: May 1940" (1999) and "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat" (2008). He has also written "The Hitler of History" (1997) and "June 1941: Hitler and Stalin" (2006).

Q: What is the book about?

A: Lukacs maintains that the five days Friday through Tuesday, May 24 to 28, 1940, were the closest Adolf Hitler came to winning the Second World War. Five days in summary, in which the entire British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were being routed, stranded at Dunkirk, threatened with annihilation; the fate of France hung in the balance; and the British War Cabinet were debating whether to negotiate with Hitler, as they would be unable to win this war alone.

Voices for appeasement, such as that of Lord Halifax, were strong and Churchill's grip on power in these first early weeks of his prime ministership was tenuous at best, but "Churchill understood something that not many people understand even now. The greatest threat to Western civilization was not Communism. It was National Socialism. The greatest and most dynamic power in the world was not Soviet Russia. It was the Third Reich of Germany. The greatest revolutionary of the twentieth century was not Lenin or Stalin. It was Hitler." By choosing not to give in when all seemed lost, to have the courage to fight on, Churchill assured that "Western civilization, not to mention the Allied cause in WWII, was saved from Hitler's tyranny."

Q: Are there any criticisms of the book?

A: The book is an excellent and detailed study of five fateful days in the history of the Second World War and in the history of Western civilization. But, the narrative loses its intensity as copious footnotes (occasionally taking up more than half the page) break the readers flow, and Lukacs is sidetracked on various points of note, often ending in phrases such as "This is not the place to..." in his lectorial style prose.

Further distractions exist in Lukacs fascination with "Mass Observation" reports for each of the five days in question. Designed to reflect public opinion, and featuring such figures as the "pessimism to optimism ratio", these contemporary reports do little to advance the main thesis of the book as they are not a direct gauge of the decisions being made in the cabinet, and Lukacs makes no suggestion that they featured in Churchill's or the cabinet's decision making process. Together with copious use of current newspaper reporting of the period, some may regard these as anything but detractions however, rather pertinent information from which those in power, citizens first, were hardly immune.

Q: How many pages are there?

A: This book is 237 pages long, with 219 pages of main text.

Q: Who should read this book?

A: Anyone with a deep-seated interest in Churchill or World War II. This book, despite its flaws is currently the best fly-on-the-wall book on those five crucial days in London, and is one of the main references for most books dealing with period.

Q: What other books deal with this period?

A: Two good choices are "Nineteen Weeks: America, Britain, and the Fateful Summer of 1940" by Norman Moss, and "Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940-1941" by Ian Kershaw. ( )

this book looks in detail at 5 important days (24th - 28th May) in London in 1940 during which many important decisions were made in the British War Cabinet and by Prime Minister Churchill. These decisions viewed in retrospect were the most cruical days of the war for England and the Allies, and the time when the great debate took place of whether to negotiate with Hitler or to fight on.

While I found much of the book very interesting, I think I have bitten off more than I can chew given my very basic knowledge of the history. I have found it somewhat tedious and overly intellectual for my own history poor intellect!

I was impressed by the way the author took an almost hour by hour analysis to these days by piecing together the events of the day from many sources: War Cabinet minutes, telegrams, private diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers and military records. It’s a very detailed book and perhaps that is what bogged me down a bit. Probably a good book for someone who has already a good broad knowledge of the history of the war and who has an interest in the who’s and why’s of political decisions. ( )

3449. Five Days in London: May 1940, by John Lukacs (read May 24, 2001) This is a great little book, filled with the author's very definite opinions, most of which I found acceptable. The five days are from May 24 to 29, 1940, and Lukacs' contention that those days were of astounding importance is persuasive. I really liked this book. ( )

Magisterial and trenchant, this close reading of history focuses on the five crucial days when Hitler came as close as he ever did to winning what was indubitably /his/ war on his terms. Inasmuch as the BEF was presumed to be as good as lost and Churchill's young cabinet bruited suing for peace, this was civilization's closest approach to the abyss until the Cuban Missile Crisis decades later. (Fortunately they took away Hitler's Evil Genius Demerit Badge in 1942.) An excellent sequel to _The Duel_, which is on a broader canvas.