Allies at War : The Politics of Defeating Hitler

A landmark history of the alliance that won the war and made the peace by the Sunday Times-bestselling author of Appeasing Hitler

‘An astonishing achievement. Compellingly told, immensely wide-ranging and utterly fascinating … Superb’ JAMES HOLLAND

‘The best book I have ever read about the politics of the Second World War’ TIM SHIPMAN

After the fall of France in June 1940, only Britain stood between Hitler and total victory. Desperate for allies, Winston Churchill did everything he could to bring the United States into the conflict, drive the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany apart and persuade neutral countries to resist German domination.

By 1942, after the German invasion of Russia and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the British-Soviet-American alliance was in place. Yet it was an improbable and incongruous coalition, divided by ideology and politics and riven with mistrust and deceit. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were partners in the fight to defeat Hitler, yet they were also rivals who disagreed on strategy, imperialism and the future of liberated Europe.

Allies at War is a fast-paced, narrative history, based on material drawn from over a hundred archives. Using vivid, first-hand accounts and unpublished diaries, we enter the rooms where the critical decisions were made, revealing the political drama behind the military events. Ambitious and compelling, Allies at War offers a fresh perspective on the Second World War and the origins of the Cold War.

''Impeccably researched, elegantly written, and compellingly argued'' THE TIMES

''Terrific ... Bouverie is a historian with an exceptional command of his subject'' DAILY MAIL

''A new star is born ... Powerful and well researched'' INDEPENDENT