How Churchill Brought England Back from the Brink

Poor assesment of the real situation that existed in Britain in May 1940. The author omits important facts how Churchill in his first few weeks of his premiership turned Britain from appeasement into a formidable fighting force. The author by his own admission makes statements that are not supported by documented evidence frequently relying on personal diary entries. Consequently spun an inaccurate picture.

Must read. This is a short life changing book.
The author demonstrates that Churchill actually contemplated dealing with Hitler
when all looked bleak for civilization, provided England's sovereignty would be assured.
Churchill knew however that this was wishful thinking.
You can not negotiate with the tiger with your head in his mouth.
Beautifully written page turner.
I can't say there was anything that I did not like about the book.
Churchill's courage stemmed from having no other choice, nothing left to do but fight against all odds.
Of course from our perspective we know that the Americans came to the rescue of Britain and civilization,
And Churchill's courage was vindicated by events that he could not be certain of in May 1940.

I bought this (in hardcover) from a rival site, after seeing the movie scripted by Anthony McCarten three times during its theatrical run. I'm only partway through but McCarten's book is already a thoroughly rewarding experience, recreating the hour-by-hour, sometimes minute-to-minute events in those dangerous weeks in the spring of 1940, and the personalities that lay behind the events. The screenplay was, of course, limited to those factors that could be successfully delineated on screen, whereas on the printed page McCarten is free to range farther and wider, at his own leisure, and the result is a rich account of a time when the future of civilization -- at least as it was understood in western Europe -- was balanced on a precipice.

He makes no secret of precisely how improbable the identity of its savior(s) would have seemed to most onlookers, even days before the events discussed here -- Churchill was the unlikeliest potential prime minister that the UK had ever seen, based on his prior record, especially if one limited oneself to assessing his work a government official (as distinct from his work as an author etc.) up to that point. Indeed, if anything McCarten's book is laced with far more intrinsic irony than his screenplay. And as the latter was masterful cinematic storytelling, so the book is an equally fine literary tale.

I was a little leery of “Darkest Hour,” since it’s a “tie-in” to the 2017 film of the same name and most tie-in books for movies are notoriously bad. This one is actually pretty good – if you ignore the fact that the author’s main point is a little questionable.

This book is very well-researched; I just think the author has misinterpreted some of his research.

Like the movie, the book focuses on a very brief, intense time-frame: May and early June of 1940. Winston Churchill has just taken over as the new Prime Minister of Great Britain. World War Two is only in its eighth month, but most of Europe has already fallen to the Nazi regime. With the impending defeat of its main ally, France, and the British Expeditionary Force trapped in Dunkirk, England finds itself in danger of being invaded next. The book explores how Churchill deals with the pressure from his War Cabinet to negotiate a peace with Adolf Hitler.

The “darkest hour” of the title refers not only to England’s plight at that time, but also, supposedly, to Churchill’s. The author’s main thesis in this book is that Churchill suffered from severe indecision and self-doubt that led him to seriously consider an armistice with Hitler. He quotes diary entries and Cabinet minutes to support his argument that Churchill not only contemplated giving Hitler “overlordship” of central Europe, but also giving up British territory.

The author surmises that Churchill probably expressed some of these views during a certain War Cabinet meeting when the secretary who took notes was 15 minutes late, resulting (rather too conveniently for my taste) in there being no official documentation of his assertion.

While I can easily believe that Churchill had doubts about the outcome of the war (what thinking human being wouldn’t?), I think the author oversteps himself by stating unequivocally that “the essential disagreement was not if a deal should be sought, but when.”

The quotes he gives to support his proposal that Churchill would have “jumped” at the right deal are never Churchill’s own; they are other people’s expressions of what they thought were Churchill’s views.

Most historians (even some of the ones the author used as sources) believe that Churchill played along with the idea of negotiations in order to gain time to see if the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk was successful.

He expressed his true feelings, in words that were undisputedly his own, in his famous May 28 speech to the whole Cabinet: “. . . every one of you would rise up and tear me down from my place if I were for one moment to contemplate parley or surrender. . . If this long island story of ours is to end at last, let it end only when each one of us lies choking in his own blood upon the ground.”

The author of this book, who also wrote the screenplay for the film, is more known for his novels, plays, and screenplays. I got the feeling that he’s not really experienced in writing non-fiction, and this led him to misinterpret some of the documentation from that time.

Aside from the debatable premise, however, this is an entertaining and informative book. The author’s flair for writing fiction makes his almost hour-by-hour recounting of those fateful 25 days fascinating.

He’s also a student of oratory, and he shows us how Churchill drew on the works of Plato, Cicero, and Plutarch to write three of his most famous speeches within this time period -- not only the “choking in our own blood” speech, but also his earlier “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech and the “we shall fight on the beaches” masterpiece that he delivered after he knew conclusively that the British Army had survived to fight another day.

Ignore the author’s premise, and read this book for his vivid portrayal of Churchill and his excellent re-creation of the critical days leading to Dunkirk.

Anthony McCarten has written an excellent book, well researched with extensive quotes from Churchill’s speeches and other sources, but I still disagree with his basic premise that on Sunday, May 26, 1940, during the third War Cabinet meeting between 5:00 pm and 6:30 pm, actually during the first 15 minutes of that Cabinet meeting for which there is no official record, Churchill came very close to accepting negotiations with Hitler. I read John Lukacs’s Five Days in London, May 1940, and compared it day by day to the account in Darkest Hour and John Lukacs’s interpretation to me is more credible.

In McCarten’s book I see no explanation as to what changed Churchill’s mind and strengthened his resolve from May 26, 1940 to May 27, 1940, which culminated with Churchill winning over the extended cabinet of 25 MPs on May 28 at his office at the House of Commons at 6:30 pm.

There is also no mention in McCarten’s book of two important facts. First, on May 24 at 11:42 a.m., Hitler issued the halt order, sent in clear, and instantly read in London, which stopped the advance towards Dunkirk and did not rescind it until late May 26, so on May 26, at 5 p.m. when the crucial meeting took place, Churchill already knew that there was a chance to use this pause to help evacuate the troops and indeed the order to initiate operation Dynamo was given a few hours after the fall of Calais the same day, whereas by May 27 the German tanks had continued their advance. So why would Churchill have been more resolute on May 27 than on May 26?

Second, the chiefs of staff came up with a paper on May 25 entitled “British Strategy in a Certain Eventuality “, which [from Lukacs’s Five Days in London, May 1940, page 107] ‘presumed the worst possible conditions - and, by 25 May, and increasingly plausible situation: the French making peace with Germany, Italy entering the war, Europe and French North Africa under German control and the loss of most of the British Expeditionary Force still struggling in northern France and Belgium . Still – even in these conditions Britain could hold out, if the United States would support Britain increasingly, eventually entering the war, and if the Royal Air Force, together with the navy, would remain in control over Britain and thus “prevent Germany from carrying out a serious seaborne invasion “’.

I personally believe that one of the main reasons Churchill did not give in is that in contrast to all the political class of the day (and almost all of the political elites of today), he knew whom he was dealing with. He knew what his enemy believed in. He had read Hitler’s Mein Kampf – “ the new Koran of faith and war”. [from The Gathering Storm, VOL 1 of The Second World War, page 26]. He knew what to expect from Hitler.

The life/times of Winston Churchill.
Where would the world be without him & his tireless interventions for not only his mother country but the world.

I guess it is hard for me to believe nothing was mentioned by anyone of the horrors of the holocaust in this book.

Dunkirk a fabulous movie 7/13/2017.
Already an 11/22/2017 movie.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written biography book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another PS, or history college PP presentation, or better yet a paid-per-view mini TV series or even a documentary (A & E, History channel). There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free Goodreads; Making Connections; Harper Collins Publisher (Perennial); paperback book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

For those interesting in learning more about the internal conflict between Churchill and his cabinet during the early stages of World War II, this is an excellent book, even if it is an offshoot of the movie.
Readers get an "up close and personal" view of not only Churchill but also his main adversaries Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax. The author does an excellent job of portraying the tension at the cabinet level especially during the dramatic escape from Dunkirk in which more than 300,000 soldiers were saved.
Without a doubt this book will give readers a much better understanding of the two opposing forces in the cabinet - one to move forward with all out war and the other to wait and hope for a possible negotiated settlement.
However, for other readers, less interested in the intrigue at the cabinet level, this may be a dry read. Perhaps they should stick with the movie version.

REVIEW: THE DARKEST HOUR (Review of the movie)
Watching this very well-made movie while reading Thomas E. Ricks’ book “Churchill & Orwell” was an eye-opener. In both cases, Churchill is portrayed as an outsider, disliked by both conservative and liberal parties (which he switched between), and yet still able to reach the top of government. At the top he is met with entrenched resistance at every turn. Most of his fight for political survival consists of both fighting the ruling upper class, and getting them to do their jobs. The parallel between Churchill’s entry into national politics and that of President Trump could not be closer. Both men had to first “drain the swamp” in order to finally rule.
While the movie was exceptionally well made, it began to bother the next day at how insidious a piece of anti-Churchill propaganda the narrative really is.

While Churchill is given a few rousing speeches to rally the public—and the movie viewer—most of his portrayal consists of him continuously drinking to excess, and blubbering out often ridiculous seat-of-the pants directives to an incredulous High Command. In the background the leaders of his party actively plot to remove him from office.

The entire movie circles around the incredible situation of Dunkirk—the encirclement of the entire British Army by the advancing German Army. We are firmly told that the Royal Navy is helpless against the might of the German Air Force. There is no hope, we are told again and again, at doing anything about their plight except—his party leaders demand—negotiations with Hitler via Mussolini. “You cannot negotiate with a tiger when he has your head in its mouth!” Churchill bellowed. This demand to negotiate is made by very reasonable characters. It is hard not to agree with the logic of their position, but, of course, Churchill, as the bellicose war monger, cannot do so because a few passengers he met on his first ride on the underground demanded he not surrender.

Instead, in a moment of complete desperation, Churchill has the Navy send every civilian boat between 30 to 100 ft. across the channel to rescue the entire 300,000 soldiers.

Churchill emerges as the hero of Britain, having, somehow, completely outfoxed formerly omnipotent Führer.

The elephant in this room is this: Why, if the German Luftwaffe prevented the Royal Navy from rescuing its men of the beaches of Normandy, could a few hundred civilian vessels succeed? The answer is one of WW-II’s most enduring mysteries. Hitler held off his Armies from annihilating the British for reasons no one has been able to discern then and now. Thus, Churchill’s civilian rescue gamble succeeded due only to a completely unforeseeable miracle. His entire High Command was right—the war was lost; the only question was, would it be lost by surrender and survival or by surrender after the military annihilation of the entire British Army. Instead a true miracle occurred and Churchill got all the glory.

Thus Churchill’s real “victory”—if being completely pushed out of Europe can so be called—did only one thing—buy time for the Americans to finally enter the war and once again pull the British chestnuts out of the fire.

These sour grapes should not take too much away from this otherwise very fine movie. The acting was superb all around (the role of Churchill is surely Oscar worthy) and the somewhat overwrought photography—how many vertical pull-backs is too many?—did enhance the stark drama of the incredible situation Churchill found himself in. Go see it. It is a very well-made, very tense drama with many endearing vignettes. The two hours went by in a flash.

The author brought to light the pressure packed moments when it appeared England would be next in Hitler's conquests. The analysis of Churchill's speeches and methods of preparation were most informative. Our leaders would do well to learn and apply those lessons thereby communication better with the citizens. The book dies not go into tactical detail of the German invasion, but rather gives the reader the very real sense of what Allied leaders were dealing with and the staggering pressure they worked under.

What made Winston Churchill the hero after he was a goat - what made England who they were and thank goodness through will, perseverance, or shear luck that they stood strong to defeat the nazi evil that the world allowed. A timely read, especially with how our country's history (US) is being written at the moment- who will be on the "right" side of history?! Please, let the people change our government and be "right!"

From an author not content with the assumed ideas of others, to a show of rousing the human spirit through words alone, this movie and book is wonderful to both history buffs and those who are mearly curious. I would highy recommend reading before seeing the movie to experience the full weight on this man's sholders during May of 1940.

Just finished reading this book before I watch the movie. It’s clear that Churchill’s oratory skills saved his career and brought England, Europe and the Western World back from the brink.

The book/movie describe how May 1940 defined Winston Churchill as the leader who made history proving, once again, that “words matter”.

WC became a great leader through toil, sweat, tension and with the help of many others. This book showcases that journey and the resulting transformation of a remarkable man.
The world owes much to him.

I loved this book. It puts the change of leadership in Britain in 1940 into perspective.
Only one error. On page 150 there's a reference to the Hawker Hurricane as a fighter jet. The Hurricane was piston engine powered. Jets didn't enter the fray untill 1945 when the Germans introduced th ME262.
anyone interested in history should read this book.