Allies at War

After the fall of France in June 1940, Britain was the only European country left to resist Hitler. Desperate for allies, Winston Churchill did everything he could to woo the United States to join the war on Britain’s side, to drive the Soviet Union and Germany apart, and to influence neutral countries to join the fight against Hitler or at least stay out of the conflict.

By the end of 1941, after the German invasion of Russia and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Grand Alliance was in place. But the ‘Big Three’ – Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin – were uneasy bedfellows and their partnership was soon plagued by mistrust, rivalry and deceit. Conflicts opened not just over strategy but over the post-war order – the extent of the United States’ global influence, the fate of Britain’s empire, and whether the Soviet Union would extend its territorial ambitions to eastern Europe. The seeds of the Cold War were sown while the bloody battles in Europe and the Pacific still raged.

Winning the War is a fast-paced landmark history that focuses less on military events than on the politics and diplomacy that made military victory possible. Drawing on many new sources, Tim Bouverie tells the dramatic story through the eyes and voices of the key players – politicians and diplomats, journalists and spies. And while the ‘Big Three’ naturally take centre stage, we also meet the Free French, Chinese nationalists and Yugoslav partisans. Ambitious, compelling and controversial, Winning the War offers a fresh perspective on the Second World War.