The Second World War

"I am perhaps the only man who has passed through the two supreme cataclysms of recorded history in high executive office... I was in this second struggle with Germany for more than five years the head of His Majesty's Government. I write therefore from a different standpoint and with more authority than was possible in my earlier books. I do not describe it as a history, for that belongs to another generation. But I claim with confidence that it is a contribution to history which will be of service to the future." Sir Winston Churchill From the origins of the conflict, the rise of Hitler and the futile attempts at appeasement, through the darkest days of Britain's lone stand against the Axis powers, the great alliances with the USA and Soviet Russia and the triumphs of D Day and the eventual liberation of Europe to the terrible birth of the Cold War under the shadow of nuclear weaponry, this is Winston Churchill's landmark history of World War II. At once a personal account and a magisterial history, The Second World War remains Churchill's literary masterpiece.

Extract from Preface to The Gathering Storm
Book I: Milestones to Disaster, 1919 - May 10, 1940
I. The Follies of the Victors, 1919-1929
II. Peace At Its Zenith, 1922-1931
III. Adolf Hitler
IV. The Locust Years, 1931-1933
V. The Darkening Scene, 1934
VI. Air Parity Lost, 1934-1935
VII. Challenge and Response, 1935
VIII. Sanctions Against Italy, 1935
IX. Hitler Strikes, 1936
X. The Loaded Pause, 1936-1938
XI. Mr Eden At the Foreign Office. His Resignation
XII. The Rape of Austria, February 1938
XIII. Czechoslovakia
XIV. The Tragedy of Munich
XV. Prague, Albania and the Polish Guarantee
XVI. On the Verge
XVII. Twilight War
XVIII. The Admiralty Task
XIX. The Front in France
XX. Scandinavia. Finland
XXI. Norway
XXII. The Fall of the Government
Book II: Alone, May 10, 1940 - June 22, 1941
I. The National Coalition
II. The Battle of France
III. The March to the Sea
IV. The Deliverance of Dunkirk
V. The Rush for the Spoils
VI. Back to France
VII. Home Defence and the Apparatus of Counter-Attack
VIII. The French Agony
IX. Admiral Darlan and the French Fleet
X. At Bay
XI. Operation "Sea Lion"
XII. The Battle of Britain
XIII. "London Can Take It"
XIV. Lend-Lease
XV. Desert Victory
XVI. The Widening War
XVII. The Battle of the Atlantic
XVIII. Yugoslavia and Greece
XIX. The Desert Flank. Rommel. Tobruk
XX. Crete
XXI. General Wavell's Final Effort
XXII. The Soviet Nemesis
Book III: The Grand Alliance, Sunday, December 7 1941 and Onwards
I. Our Soviet Ally
II. My Meeting with Roosevelt
III. Persia and the Desert
IV. Pearl Harbour!
V. A Voyage Amid World War
VI. Anglo-American Accords
VII. The Fall of Singapore
VIII. The U-Boat Paradise
IX. American Naval Victories. The Coral Sea and Midway Island
X. "Second Front Now!"
XI. My Second Visit to Washington. Tobruk
XII. The Vote of Censure
XIII. The Eighth Army at Bay
XIV. My Journey to Cairo. Changes in Command
XV. Moscow: The First Meeting
XVI. Moscow: A Relationship Established
XVII. Strain and Suspense
XVIII. The Battle of Alamein
XIX. The Torch Is Lit
XX. The Casablanca Conference
XXI. Turkey, Stalingrad and Tunis
XXII. Italy the Goal
Book IV: Triumph and Tragedy: 1943-1945
I. The Capture of Sicily and the Fall of Mussolini
II. Synthetic Harbours
III. The Invasion of Italy
IV. Deadlock in the Mediterranean
V. Arctic Convoys
VI. Teheran: The Opening
VII. Teheran: Crux and Conclusions
VIII. Carthage and Marrakesh
IX. Marshal Tito: The Greek Torment
X. The Anzio Stroke
XI. "Overlord"
XII. Rome and D-Day
XIII. Normandy to Paris
XIV. Italy and the Riviera Landing
XV. The Russian Victories
XVI. Burma
XVII. The Battle of Leyte Gulf
XVIII. The Liberation of Western Europe
XIX. October in Moscow
XX. Paris and the Ardennes
XXI. Christmas at Athens
XXII. Malta and Yalta: Plans for World Peace
XXIII. Russia and Poland: The Soviet Promise
XXIV. Crossing the Rhine
XXV. The Iron Curtain
XXVI. The German Surrender
XXVII. The Chasm Opens
XXVIII. The Atomic Bomb
Epilogue: 1945-1957
Index