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Five Months That Changed History; May--October 1940
St. Martin's Griffin
February 2012
On Sale: February 14, 2012
736 pages ISBN: 125000215X EAN: 9781250002150 Kindle: B00486UCVY Paperback / e-Book
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Non-Fiction History
'If Hitler fails to invade or destroy Britain, he has lost
the war,' Churchill said in the summer of 1940. He was
right. "The Battle of Britain" was a crucial turning point
in the history of the Second World War and now, acclaimed
British historian James Holland has written the definitive
account of this battle based on extensive new research from
around the world including thousands of new interviews with
people on both sides of the fighting. Had Britain's
defenses collapsed, Hitler would have dominated all of
Europe and been able to turn his full attention east to the
Soviet Union. The German invasion of France and the Low Countries in May
1940 was unlike any the world had ever seen. It hit with a
force and aggression that no-one could counter and in just a
few short weeks, all in their way crumbled under the force
of the Nazi hammer blow. With France facing defeat and with
British forces pressed back to the Channel, there were few
who believed Britain could possibly survive. Soon, it
seemed, Hitler would have all of Europe at his feet. Yet
Hitler's forces were not quite the Goliath they at first
seemed, while her leadership lacked the single-minded
purpose, vision and direction that had led to such success
on land. Nor was Britain any David. Thanks to a sophisticated defensive system and the combined
efforts of the RAF, Royal Navy as well as the mounting sense
of collective defiance led by a new Prime Minister, Britain
was not ready to give in to the Nazi onslaught. From clashes
between coastal convoys and Schnellboote in the Channel to
astonishing last stands in Flanders, and from the slaughter
by the U-boats in the icy Atlantic to the dramatic aerial
battles over England, James Holland’s The Battle of Britain
paints a complete picture of that extraordinary summer - a
time in which the fate of the world truly hung by a thread.
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