Churchill's Bunker (Imperial War Museum) [Hardcover]

Richard Holmes (Author)

Book Description

Series: Imperial War Museum | Publication Date: June 4, 2009

'This is the room from which I will direct the war,' Churchill declared, shortly after becoming Prime Minister in 1940. And he did just that, as the distinguished Churchill biographer Richard Holmes explains in the first history of the Cabinet War Rooms. It was from these cramped, uncongenial confines that Churchill turned a seemingly inevitable defeat at the hands of the Nazis into a famous victory. Yet he was not working deep in a distant forest or hidden in a walled-off suburb: he was in the very heart of the capital, within sight of Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. Built in 1938 as a temporary refuge in case of air raid attack, this secret bunker became a second home to Churchill - and to large numbers of military personnel and civil servants whose work until now has been largely unsung. Here was the Map Room that charted the advances and retreats of armies, the locations of warships and the often painful progress of the convoys that kept the nation supplied. Here the planners worked on future operations and the intelligence staff pondered the enemy's next moves. And all this work was known only to those who needed to know. Drawing on a fascinating range of original material, including new first-hand accounts of the people who lived there, Holmes reveals how and why the bunker and its war machine developed; how the inhabitants' lives were transformed; and how their work led to victory. Elegant and illuminating, "Churchill's Bunker" is a unique exploration of one of the most important sites in British history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'A fascinating and invaluable insight into the secret catacombs under Whitehall where Winston Churchill planned British war strategy, spoke to President Roosevelt through scrambler telephone, and broadcast his inspirational messages of defiance to Nazism.' Andrew Roberts, author of Masters and Commanders. 'Richard Holmes's Churchill's Bunker is a bright and fascinating new book devoted to where and how Churchill often lived and ruled during the first years of the war. Bright, because it illuminates, literally, the underground warren of sunless rooms where Churchill's staff functioned below blackened London streets. Fascinating, because both the origins and the conditions of this subterranean headquarters, as well as Churchill's presence in and absence from it, were not at all simple.' John Lukacs, author of Five Days in London. 'Loads of people will love this book... it is imbued with Richard Holmes's passion for the period' Margaret Forster."

About the Author

Professor Richard Holmes is one of Britain's best known historians. His TV work includes the BBC documentary 'In the Footsteps of Churchill', which was accompanied by a bestselling book. He is the author of over a dozen works, including Marlborough; The World at War and Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Profile Books (June 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846682258
• ISBN-13: 978-1846682254
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,060,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on Churchill and his war room, September 11, 2009

By 

C. Catherwood "writer" (Cambridge UK and Richmond VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Churchill's Bunker (Imperial War Museum) (Hardcover)

This is by far the best book on where Churchill spent much of the war - in the Cabinet Office War Rooms under the streets of London. This is now part of the Imperial War Museum and can be visited by those interested to see where Churchill made some of the key decisions that rescued Britain from Nazism in 1940-1941. This is an absolute must for Churchill buffs everywhere: buy it and then come to Britain to see it for yourself. (Christopher Catherwood: author of WINSTON CHURCHILL: THE FLAWED GENIUS OF WORLD WAR II: Berkley, 2009)

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They never surrendered, April 27, 2010

By 

wogan "the book reader" - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Churchill's Bunker: The Cabinet War Rooms and the Culture of Secrecy in Wartime London (Hardcover)

Churchill's Bunker was not just an underground shelter, it was the guiding heart of the British war effort. Of course the man who drove that heart was Churchill. The tales of many of Churchill's foibles and idiosyncrasies are told, as well as others involved in this effort. The story of the role of civilian women is also included.
Richard Holmes is a British historian who one can tell has a love of these rooms that still exist under Whitehall. He includes the belief that the phrase `phony war' was something they were told...made up by American journalists, but that is about the only inclusion of the role of Americans, with the exception of Churchill's and Roosevelt's collaboration.
The rooms evoke deep feelings in the hearts of Britain's and also those who have a love of history and respect for the accounts of WWII; but somehow the 197 pages do not go all the way to the real essence of the place, maybe it would have been better to have had a longer book to relate this history. It is good to see it in print; but somehow it lacks the heart and character of a woman I sat with in the canteen during a tour, who, with tears running down her cheeks, said" you know this is the place where Britain saved the world, until America could win the war". I wish the strength and quality of those days were more present, but I still appreciate this history finally being written.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars People Oriented, Low on Technology, June 1, 2011

By 

Kenneth J Hawley (Houston, TX, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Churchill's Bunker: The Cabinet War Rooms and the Culture of Secrecy in Wartime London (Hardcover)

Chatty, rambling, focused on the people and personalities, this book is fine if you want a who's who of the history of the war fighting efforts within the British government in the 1914-1944 period. If you actually want to know something about the bunker itself, other than a few cursory construction comments and a worthless floor plan, then look elsewhere. Clearly the author has an encyclopaedic grasp of the players and the soap opera that was inter-war Britain, but little or no interest in the engineering or technology. Perhaps it is not Mr. Holmes' fault for not writing the book I was expecting, but then again the book's title is not "People who planned and occasionally visited Churchill's bunker, including Churchill himself", although that would have be far more accurate. A disappointment.