The Grand Alliance

At the beginning of 1941, the war between the Axis Powers and the United Kingdom had become a war of the frontiers. Germany lacked the naval and air superiority to invade or strangle the island nation, and Britain lacked the land power to assault the continent. Each struggled to grasp an advantage in peripheral theaters: the Mediterranean, the Balkans, the North African desert, Syria. The allegiance or neutrality of Spain and Turkey poised precariously between the two giants. This finely-balanced house of cards came crashing down in two tremendous strokes: Germany's invasion of Russia in historic and overwhelming force, and Japan's shocking irruption into the Pacific through the blazing wreckage of American and British battleships.

This show more third volume of Churchill's history of the Second World War is a record of preparations for a world that never happened. From training Alpine troops in Iceland for the liberation of Norway to plans to occupy Spanish Atlantic islands in response to a German conquest of Gibraltar, from preparations to defend against a German transit through Turkey into the Middle East to detailed orders to Home Defense to fight to the death against invasion, nearly all British attempts to plan for the future were overthrown by Hitler's decision to conquer Russia before subjugating Britain.

This was not necessarily a miscalculation on Hitler's part; indeed, the fury of the Russian response surprised many who expected the Bear to collapse nearly as quickly as France had done. Had Hitler's gamble succeeded, Britain truly would have stood alone in Europe, with the agricultural and petroleum resource of Russia now ranged fully against her and German troops poised for a pincer movement on Egypt and the all-important Suez Canal. Russia's determination to fight, driven no less by Stalin's iron will than by the average Russian's love of his homeland, instead threw the eastern giant into Allied ranks. Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor forged the final link in what Churchill called the grand alliance, bringing America into the war alongside Russia and Britain. The die was now irretrievably cast, and by their own desperate acts the German, Italian, and Japanese leaders now faced a global alliance determined to exterminate them once and for all. show less

Churchill continues with his accurate account of the events of the war, with exceptional detail. However, it's his personal touch that is the most engaging, he neither claims glory for himself nor avoids his own faux pas. And, needless to say, his use of language and ability to inject light humour is impeccable. Fascinating.

Volume 3 of Churchill's opus on World War II, this book does not disappoint. Basically covering 1941, Churchill describes in detail the fear of fighting the Axis alone, the surprise of Germany's decision to attack Russia, and the United States entry into the war.

It's fascinating to read Churchill's respect for Roosevelt and the U.S., and how he handles them with kid gloves and not once give in to the frustration he (and Britain) must have felt as they watched the U.S. stumble into the war - slowly and surely.

Equally interesting is his disdain for Stalin, calling his trust in Nazi Germany one of the biggest blunders someone could possibly make and something that could have prevented much agony in the Soviet Union.

Churchill's command of show more the details are complete and he is equally versed in supply and logistics, military strategy and the politics associated with governing. show less

The third book in the series, this one details the war for Britain during the year 1941. There is no way to read this except with a heavy heart, so I can't say I enjoyed it. However, it was interesting and inspiring in parts, everyone loves to read about the underdog who overcomes. It seems strange and wrong to call England an underdog, yet that is what they seemed at this point. It was in this year however that they began to turn the tide and the world saw that they were not to be easily overrun. Churchill's humor slips through in his writing and that lightens the reading of these heavy times, he also can be very moving. It was enlightening to me to read of the oneness of mind between Churchill and Roosevelt and how much America did show more even before she declared war. I did not know that we shipped so many supplies and helped patrol the Atlantic. Not an easy read, yet I am glad I finished it. show less

Third in the series, this is the book of 1941 with all its cares and events. In some ways, this year went well for Great Britain. War production was well up and things went well in the Middle East. Of course in that same time period Greece and Crete were lost.

At the end of the year, of course, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States entered the war. At this point Churchill said that he knew the war was won however long it took. According to what was written in the book, everyone in power knew that the Japanese would start a war and attacks were expected at many points but no one expected an attack on Pearl Harbor. And no one anticipated the early fall of Singapore.

All these books are written in a superlative flow of show more language. The Appendix in each book is full of primary sources. Although there is bias in the books it is not concealed and I do not think it distort the facts or impair the narrative. I recommend the whole series. show less

"Sail on, O ship of State!
Sail on, O Union strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!"

These words, written by Longfellow and sent in a letter from President Franklin Roosevelt, made a profound impression on Churchill as England's struggle with Nazi Germany intensified. Indeed, so profound was the effect they had that he included a copy of the hand-written note in The Grand Alliance, third in his series on the second world war.

As with the first two in the series, I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. Churchill gives us a detailed view of his activities during those trying days, peppered with interesting anectodes. One of my favorites was the story of a German U-boat show more that surrendered to a British plane, and was later commissioned into the Royal Navy.

Perhaps one of the most striking parts of the book to me was Churchill's description of America's entry into the war after Pearl Harbor. Having just passed the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 attacks at this writing, the following paragraph hit home:

"Silly people–and there were many, not only in enemy countries–might discount the force of the United States. Some said they were soft, others that they would never be united. They would fool around at a distance. They would never come to grips. They would never stand blood-letting. Their democracy and system of recurrent elections would paralyze their war effort. They would be just a vague blur on the horizon of friend or foe. Now we should see the weakness of this numerous but remote, wealthy, and talkative people."

As I have mentioned elswere in the blogosphere, it seems to me that these "silly people" were only 65 years ahead of their time.

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During war on each front the leaders complain of the inadequacy of their forces and want more. The central leadership needs to decide between those competing needs without offending their on-the-ground commanders. Deciding where to allocate resources when there is strain on many fronts becomes quite difficult among all the uncertainty of war.