Customer Reviews

The Second World War. Their Finest Hour (Second World War 2) (v. 2)

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I bought Churchill's 6-volume history of the Second World War many years ago, but did not find the strength to begin reading it until some time later. The effect was immediate. Although it took me over a year to read all of it, that was only because I have long had the habit of reading a number of books concurrently. I simply couldn't put Churchill down. To say that the story of World War II is a gripping one, is to put it mildly. How much more gripping do you think it might be in the hands of that one unique individual who was both one of the central players and the recorder of the events themselves. At times, I found myself actually wanting certain historical events to go in favour of the Allies although, naturally, I already knew the outcome! Such is the effect of Churchill's writing.

In the second volume "Their Finest Hour," Britain was holding the fort against Hitler alone. After Dunkirk, spirits were low all over the place and the value of Dr Goebells's secret weapon was able to come into play with great effect. One can imagine the feeling of the citizenry of Britain at that time, trapped as they felt themselves to be in that little island, with an unbeaten army just across the channel snarling at them. The whys and wherefores of the actions of both Hitler and the German General Staff at that time, can be discussed until you are blue in the face. The fact is that, although most people on both sides of the Atlantic thought they were about to hop across and finish the job, the Germans hesitated, mainly for lack of a plan, and lost the chance. I don't know for sure if Churchill also thought the British might have been defeated in July, August or September of 1940, but from the end of that odd period of stalemate, he never looked back.

This is fine writing by a, dare I say, highly experienced writer who was right in the thick of things almost from the word go. What a stroke of luck it was that Churchill, like Caesar but unlike Napoleon, both lived it and wrote it.

Sadly, the Kindle Edition of this work fails to do it justice. Churchill has dotted this text with numerous charts and tables illustrating the progress of the war, and every single one of them is completely illegible. The Kindle edition has included them at a shamefully useless resolution, and so I must suggest that any interested reader buy a different edition. I am very disappointed in this purchase.

This is probably one of the best books I ever read. However, the Kindle version has low res charts and tables that are unreadable, even when zoomed. So, in the kindle version you lose all the diagrams that are there to help you understand the great battles. I strongly suggest you buy the paper edition.

In six remarkable volumes, the incomparable Winston Churchill sets forth the Second World War in enormous detail and largely from his own personal perspective as Great Britain's Prime Minister. In this, the second volume, Churchill sets forth the events of the year 1940, the momentous period when France fell to the Nazi tyrants and Britain stood alone against Hitler's onslaught. The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, Churchill explains just how and why France was defeated and how she came to capitulate to the Nazis in defiance of her pledge to Britain to keep fighting. I have never seen such a detailed description of the political arguments and considerations that went into this decision. The book is invaluable for this reason alone. Also detailed are the military setbacks that led to the French surrender and necessitated the British evacuation at Dunkirk. Churchill reprints many of his communications with other world leaders, such as President Roosevelt, his own ministers and military leaders and his communications with Parliament and the British public.

After the French removal from the war, Great Britain stood alone in defiance of Hitler. Churchill makes it clear, however, that as British home defense became stronger and stronger, he remained confident that his country could repel any invasion. This did not save the nation from the horrors of the German blitz and this is described in detail, including Churchill's own experience in a bomb shelter. The specifics of the Battle of Britain, the first major air battle in history and the growing war at sea are also explored as is the growing relationship between the United States and Britain.

The year 1940 is the year Britain survived on her own and was the only year in which invasion was a genuine possibility. Yet from the American stand point it is one of the most neglected periods of the war. Churchill's writing is elegant and accessible at the same time. This is true of all his works. The book and Churchill's memos and other internal communications reveals that even in this difficult and trying year, he always had a strategic vision of victory. Much of what Churchill predicted came to pass after many hard and deadly years. But in the year 1940, ultimate victory seemed impossible. Indeed subjugation seemed a realistic possibility. Without the leadership of Churchill, it is doubtful Britain would have stood defiant. After 1941, Britain's role in the war was diminished and then eclipsed by that of the United States and the Soviet Union. Churchill recognized and indeed welcomed this inevitable development and covers it in the subsequent volumes. But without question, 1940 was Britain's "finest hour." Read all six books in this series.

In this second-of-six volume series on Great Britain's role in World War II (WWII) British Prime Minister Winston Churchill details his nation's involvement in the conflict beginning with France's unexpected capitulation in May, 1940, to the defeat of Italian forces at Sidi Barrani in Africa in January, 1941. At a time when Britain stood alone, only an iron will to persevere and the English Channel prevented a Nazi takeover. In Churchill's words, this may very well have been, "Their Finest Hour."

Churchill narrates an almost daily account of activities worldwide that affected Great Britain and the British Empire. He recounts the Battle of Britain and analyzes the reasons for Germany's defeat. It was here, he made his famous statement regarding the Royal Air Force, "Never has so much, been owed by so many, to so few." He also goes into great detail on his on-going negotiations with Franklin D. Roosevelt for American aid. This early correspondence would develop into the alliance that ultimately proved fatal to the Nazis.

This first-person account of some of the most momentous events of the 20th century is essential reading for any serious student of the war. Churchill provides numerous insights, that are largely unknown to American readers schooled only in the, "we hit the beach at D-Day and Germany surrendered," mentality. Written in simple, yet elegant prose, Churchill explains exactly what happened and why from the British perspective. , Detailed, readable and authoritative, "Their Finest Hour," has inspired me to read all six volumes of this important work. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking insights into this tragic and exciting period of world history.

In this second of six, this epic tale is wonderfully told by Winston Churchill. It is the stuff of bravery, valor and everything that stands in its way. More than anything, Winston Churchill's writing style is exemplified, to me anyway, by his daring to speak of great deeds, but also of cowardice.

Winston speaks of his countrymen and our own President with the highest regards in being able to deal with the terror that was forced upon the world. He also goes so far as to tell the reader which Generals of the French Army had given up long before they ever should have. He speaks of the leaders of Italy waiting hungrily until only at the precise moment when it was at their utmost advantage to strike.

He points out in his communicaitons with friend and foe the great things people said, as well as the mistakes people made, including his own from time to time. It is fascinating to see the first hand accounts of this great man in a desparate position doing his best to keep himself and his country held together.

He delves into Britain, France, South America, Germany, Italy, Greece, the Americas and all other nations which at the time which may have had a hand in the war (some did, some didn't).

I found this book to be a far more enjoyable read than the first as it covers all aspects of the war rather than focusing primarily on the Naval situation. As you will see in the first 100 pages at the battle near Dunkirk, this book covers all aspects from ammunitions to fighting forces.

One thing I found interesting was that most nations did not choose to join WWII. They were forced into it by the Germans. Russia, France, Britain, Belgium, and yes, even the U.S. chose to fight only when the other alternative was devestation and slavery into the German hands. This is something our history books neglect to mention but which Winston is very gracios to point out.

I'd really love to read this book. But I can't. Trying to navigate the file as provided for Kindle crashes my reader. Furthermore, it displays corrupt paragraph formatting making it practically unreadable. RosettaBooks ... the provider of the volume in digital format ... has released a profoundly inferior product. I can't speak for other Kindle versions, but if you have a K2, don't buy this. -- David Fox

You will be hard-pressed to find another novel that describes all of the major events of the war on all-fronts in such detail. The miracle of this work is that Churchill presents the story from all sides from an objective point of view which is usually lacking in modern writing. Through a combination of personal experience and detailed research Churchill has reconstructed the events of the war in heroic fashion.

Americans have a warped view of history, and little understanding of the role of aristocracy and class in history--our own or Britain's. Churchill was a card carrying member of the aristocracy; one of the small group of men who ran England up to, and through, World War II. Their Finest Hour is an amazing documentation of the very height, and at the same time, end, of the all powerful aristocracy in England.

Churchill's second volume of his Six Volume history of the Second World War begins with May, 1940, as the German army is rolling through Luxembourg and Belgium (both clinging to their neutrality right up to the minute the German tanks crossed the border), toward a woefully unprepared France (still reliant upon the Maginot Line, which in turn depended on Luxembourg and Belgium neutrality.

Churchill has just assumed the post of Prime Minister, after having spent the prior year (and several before that) as an outsider bemoaning the refusal of Britain (and France) to prepare to meet the rising German threat. Those years of exile are the subject of volume one.

The present volume focuses on the extraordinary difficulties Churchill and others in the British government faced once the war actually began. Once France was forced to surrender, Germany was left in what most of us think of as continental Europe without any enemies. It had allied itself with fascist Italy, made peace with Stalin, conquered Poland and France, neutralized Spain, and occupied Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, Norway, and the Netherlands.

In this sense, Britain stood alone. There was a very real risk that Germany could invade and conquer Britain in the Summer and early Fall of 1940. The German bombing of London was increasingly effective, and the British army was in total disarray, having just been forced to abandon France, leaving most of its equipment behind. Just how worried Churchill was comes through clearly and terrifyingly in this volume. Had Germany succeeded, the world might look very different today--the Second World War would have been transformed into a truly intercontinental war, with Asia and Europe allied against North America.

Of course, Britain was not really "Alone." Greece and Turkey were firm allies; Bulgaria and Yugoslavia stood against Hitler and Italy; and Britain controlled most of what we today think of as the third world--from Gibraltar at the southern tip of Europe, to Egypt, to South Africa, India, Malaysia and Burma, and Australia. Only by adopting a firmly eurocentric view of the world (which Churchill clearly had) can he title this volume "Alone."

Churchill and the rest of his government were able to move seamlessly into power, and immediately take control of this world wide empire precisely because of the peculiarly insular class system that ruled Britain. Even as an outsider, Churchill clearly had full access to all of the centers of power. He could not bend and shape them, but he was fully in the loop. Personal relationships and lifelong associations meant that he regularly met with leaders at all levels of the power structure--including most importantly (but by no means exclusively) top politicians and naval personnel. This sort of access by "losing" politicians in the United States today is unimaginable. Can anyone seriously envision Bush allowing the head of the CIA to meet regularly with Howard Dean to review the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

The only weakness in this volume is Churchill's over reliance on his own contemporaneous telegrams and memos. he was absolutely prolific, apparently having dictated dozens of multi-page memos daily--yet still finding time to run the government. While fascinating historically, they really are bureaucratic memos. The first volume, by relying more on narration and less on historical documents, allowed Churchill greater reign to his incredible skill with the English language. Here, long sections read like just what they are--official documents written in haste, for the historical record.

That said, his brilliant use of words shines through. The most stirring passage is toward the end--his eulogy in November, 1940, for Neville Chamberlain, who more than anyone was responsible for "appeasing" Hitler. Rather than lapse into "I told you so", he marshals some of the most stirring words ever written to praise Chamberlain; urging history to judge him on the strength of his character rather than the results of his actions, which are subject to the fickleness of history.

In sum, this is a remarkable book, chronicling a remarkable time in history, written by a remarkable man who played a central roll in events. I can think of no other book by anyone at anytime which brings together all three of these elements--and is well written!

All six volumes of Churchill's history _The_Second_World_War_
are off scale in their quality. They are superbly written.
They are true. They are authoritative. They are thrilling.
Why are they out of print indefinitely?