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John Kelly

Never Surrender: Winston Churchill and Britain's Decision to Fight Nazi Germany in the Fateful Summer of 1940 Hardcover – October 20, 2015

by John Kelly (Author)

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A remarkably vivid account of a key moment in Western history: The critical six months in 1940 when Winston Churchill debated whether the British would fight Hitler.

London in April, 1940, was a place of great fear and conflict. Everyone was on edge; civilization itself seemed imperiled. The Germans are marching. They have taken Poland, France, Holland, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia. They now menace Britain. Should Britain negotiate with Germany? The members of the War Cabinet bicker, yell, lose their control, and are divided. Churchill, leading the faction to fight, and Lord Halifax, cautioning that prudence is the way to survive, attempt to usurp one another by any means possible. Their country is on the line. And, in Never Surrender, we feel we are alongside these complex and imperfect men, determining the fate of the British Empire.

Drawing on the War Cabinet papers, other government documents, private diaries, newspaper accounts, and memoirs, historian John Kelly tells the story of the summer of 1940—the months of the “Supreme Question” of whether or not the British were to surrender. Impressive in scope and attentive to detail, Kelly takes readers from the battlefield to Parliament, to the government ministries, to the British high command, to the desperate Anglo-French conference in Paris and London, to the American embassy in London, and to life with the ordinary Britons. He brings to life one of the most heroic moments of the twentieth century and intimately portrays some of its largest players—Churchill, Lord Halifax, FDR, Joe Kennedy, Hitler, Stalin, and others. Never Surrender is a fabulous, grand narrative of a crucial period in World War II history and the men and women who shaped it.

Print length

384 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Scribner
Publication date

October 20, 2015
Dimensions

6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

147672797X
ISBN-13

978-1476727974
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John Kelly
495
Paperback
71 offers from $6.40

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Never Surrender

"WWII scholar John Kelly triumphs again with Never Surrender." ― Vanity Fair

“For lovers of minute-by-minute history, [NEVER SURRENDER] is a feast.” ― Head Butler

“With his masterly touch at bringing history alive, John Kelly makes his readers feel as though they are in anxious London during the fateful days of 1940. Never Surrender brims with dozens of illuminating scenes accompanying the unforgettable presence of Winston Churchill and his indomitable will.” -- David Maraniss, author of Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story

"A glorious book." -- Simon Winchester, author of Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers

"This is an outstanding, gripping read by a popular historian. It blends colorful biographies, pungent anecdotes and a solid grasp of the great strategic issues that weighed on decision-makers in 1940.' -- Geoffrey Wawro, author of A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire

Kelly's fastidiously researched narrative begins in 1919, when the British were coming to grips with mourning the dead of World War I, and concludes with Britain's heroic stand against the Nazis in the summer of 1940. His description of the major events of the interwar era—the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, and the desperate diplomacy to avoid war in 1939—flows smoothly despite reams of detail. The author successfully balances the big picture with stories of persons who range from Count Ciano, the foreign minister of Italy to a British soldier waiting to be evacuated from Dunkirk. ― Library Journal

“An intense and often surprising account of what it was like for the leaders, soldiers and citizens of Britain…[John Kelly] brings the Fateful Summer alive in all its fear and trembling.” ― Bookreporter

"Impressive in scope but attentive to detail...Never Surrender is a character-driven narrative of a crucial period in World War II history and the men and women who shaped it." ― WW2 Podcast

About the Author

John Kelly specializes in narrative history. He is the author of The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People; The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death; The Most Devastating Plague of all Time; Three on the Edge; and more. Kelly lives in New York City and Sandisfield, Massachusetts.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scribner; 1st edition (October 20, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 147672797X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1476727974
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,753,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,948 in French History (Books)
- #5,914 in German History (Books)
- #16,782 in World War II History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
63 ratings

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John Kelly

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John Kelly's new book, "Never Surrender: Winston Churchill and Britain's Decision to Fight Nazi Germany in the Fateful Summer of 1940," chronicles the battles, ploys, and gamesmanship among Britain's War Cabinet during one of the most perilous and consequential seasons of the last century.

After the Germans had taken Poland, France, Holland, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia - and were menacing Britain as Paris fell - the question was: should Britain negotiate with Germany? Or fight on and - per Churchill - "never surrender"?

Kelly's deeply researched account of these character-testing months will be published on October 20, 2015, by Scribner, Colin Harrison, editor.

With his last two books – "The Graves Are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People" -- which was widely praised by history scholars, literary reviewers, statesmen and international activists, including President Bill Clinton -- and "The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, The Most Devastating Plague of All Time," Kelly has established himself as a major writer of deeply researched, narratively compelling, and highly lauded popular histories.

He has also written on psychology and medicine, including a narrative about clinical trials, "Three on the Edge: Three Patients In Search of a Medical Miracle."

Kelly has been a featured speaker at the Smithsonian Institution, Princeton University, New York University, Bard College, Fordham University, The University of British Columbia, Baylor University Albion College, The State University at Albany, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, as well as numerous NPR, C-Span, and History Network appearances.

Kelly lives in Manhattan and Berkshire County, Massachusetts.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

63 global ratings

5 star		71%
4 star		11%
3 star		9%
2 star		5%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Elin Schoen Brockman

An Inspiring Read!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 29, 2016

Verified Purchase

I’m not a WWII history buff, but one of my best friends is. And skimming through “Never Surrender” in order to decide whether to buy it for him, I got hooked – on page 22, to be exact, when the crime writer Margery Allingham enters what is essentially the story of Churchill’s world-changing decision to take on, rather than appease, Nazi Germany. It is summer 1938. Hitler has annexed Austria and is about to grab the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. Neville Chamberlain, Churchill’s predecessor, has just made his hold-the-course speech, assuring Britons that their government is not about to rush into war over the Czech crisis. But this does not appease people’s fears. In “an obscure Essex village whose sole distinction was its possession of one of the two surviving Maypoles in England,” Margery Allingham is hosting a backyard meeting of the annual village cricket party. When the subject of Czechoslovakia comes up, Margery, who grew up during the devastating Great War, has “an astonishing thought:” “War, which had savaged the generation before hers, now seemed about to savage the generation after hers. The thought was so staggering, she found it ‘hardly to be borne.’”
The brilliance of John Kelly’s meticulously documented account of the fall of Chamberlain, the rise of Churchill, and the impact of imminent war on the British people lies in its seamless interweaving of personal observations and anecdotes from the diaries of Allingham and others (from Mollie Painter Downes to Vera Brittain to Claire Boothe (Luce) to the foreign minister of Fascist Italy, Galleazzo Ciano) with vivid military and political narrative, making the book not only compulsively readable, but full of revelations that I’m pretty sure must be new even to those more familiar with this territory. Like my friend the history buff. (I bought us each a copy of the book, incidentally, and he loved it as much as I did.)
I was impressed, too, by Kelly’s ability – he’s as talented a writer as he is a researcher – to move and inspire, not just to inform. The portrait he presents of Churchill is far more nuanced and accessible than the usual overblown depiction. In “Never Surrender” we experience in intimate detail The Great Man Out to Save the World instilling courage and forbearance into the hearts and souls of his own countrymen and women – again, through their eyes, often in their exact words. “He brought you up to his level,” wrote Margery Allingham. And in the process of doing so, he not only became a hero; he created a nation of heroes.

4 people found this helpful

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Mr. Michael C. Morrow

Churchill and the saving of Western civilization

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 15, 2015

Verified Purchase

On the 75th anniversary of 1940, this book is a timely reminder of the difference that one person can make, and that person's impact on the world. On May 10, 1940, the day of the German invasion of Belgium and France, Winston Churchill, who had been in the wilderness of the Conservative party only a year before, became Prime Minister. With the swift collapse of the Allied forces, and the possibility that the British forces would be trapped and unable to escape France, the new government had to consider whether to negotiate with Germany.

From a logical standpoint, it made no sense for Britain to continue the war. Against Germany alone, Britain had no chance of defeating Germany, and risked invasion and conquest. Continuing the war would only bankrupt the country, and in fact when the war was over the country was bankrupt. Britain's only chance was to try and hold on and hope that the Soviet Union and/or the United States would enter the war and join forces with Britain to defeat Germany.

However, if Britain had made peace with Hitler, and managed to maintain a nominal degree of independence, there would have been one of two outcomes of the war in Europe-either a Nazi dominated Europe or a Soviet dominated Europe. With Britain out of the war, even if the United States had entered later, there would have been no way for the US to send troops to Europe. Without Britain, there would have been no Operation Torch to liberate North Africa, no invasion of Sicily or Italy, and certainly no D-Day. Without Britain as a base, and the help of the British navy and army, the US would have had no role in the outcome of the war in Europe. Thus, either Nazi Germany or the Communist Soviet Union would have controlled that continent at the end of the war.

Churchill fully understood the dangers of continuing the war, but also understood the greater danger represented by Hitler. He knew that the future of Western civilization was at stake. He risked it all, hoping that eventually, with the US and the Soviet Union, Hitler would be defeated, and at least Western Europe would remain free and independent. Even Clement Attlee, the labour leader, admitted that without Churchill Britain might have been defeated or might have negotiated an end to the war in 1940. Winston Churchill, because of his visionary leadership, saved Western Civilization. This book is an outstanding account of how and why it happened.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

william elliott

"Be proud,be very proud !!!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

The title just about sums up Winston Churchill,and the defiance of the British people,when all looked lost after Dunkirk.There were those in parliament who would have thrown in the towel in 1940,had it not been for Winston's resolve,and his rallying of our besieged,bombed,and battered Britain.I shudder to think what Europe would be like now if Hitler had prevailed.Russia and America eventually overshadowed Britain's war effort,but Britain bought the time for the Allies to organize themselves,at the cost of her economy and status in the World.
I don't mind admitting this book brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye.Regardless which political party you support,if you are patriotic read this and be proud;be very proud !!!

3 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 26, 2017

Verified Purchase

Must read for anyone interested in our history exceptional

Jods

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 25, 2018

Verified Purchase