Allies at War

The Politics of Defeating Hitler

Tim Bouverie

$59.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

The Bodley Head Ltd
17 May 2025

History; Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000; Second World War; Diplomacy

The first political history of the Second World War, of building the Grand Alliance to defeat Hitler, by the Sunday Times-bestselling author of Appeasing Hitler

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

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.

Only by looking at their points of conflict, as well as of co-operation, are we able to understand the course of the war and world that developed in its aftermath.

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Using vivid, first-hand accounts and unpublished diaries, we enter the rooms where the critical decisions were made while going beyond the confines of the Grand Alliance to examine, among other themes, the doomed Anglo-French alliance, fractious relations with General de Gaulle and the Free French, and interactions with Poland, Greece and Nationalist China.

Ambitious and compelling, revealing the political drama behind the military events, Allies at War offers a fresh perspective on the Second World War and the origins of the Cold War.

By: Tim Bouverie
Imprint: The Bodley Head Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 241mm, Width: 163mm, Spine: 45mm
Weight: 936g
ISBN: 9781847926227
ISBN 10: 1847926223
Pages: 688
Publication Date: 17 May 2025
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Tim Bouverie is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Appeasing Hitler- Chamberlain Churchill and the Road to War, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. He studied history at Christ Church, Oxford and was the 2020-21 Alistair Horne Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford.

Reviews for Allies at War: The Politics of Defeating Hitler

In Allies at War, Tim Bouverie fully lives up to the dazzling reputation he won with Appeasing Hitler. Again, he combines depth of research shrewdness of judgement and lightness of touch. The result is an absorbing read as well as a major work of history, illuminating the drama and complexity of modern history's greatest and yet most troubled alliance -- Robert Tombs, author of The Sovereign Isle A sweeping, fast-paced narrative of one of the great turning points of the 20th century. Deeply researched yet highly readable -- David Reynolds, author of Mirrors of Greatness A grand sweep of history - a brilliant narrative -- Antony Beevor, author of Russia Allies at War cements Tim Bouverie's reputation as one of the most talented young historians we have. Magisterial in scope, shrewd in its judgements, well-written and often amusing, Allies at War is the best book I have ever read about the politics of the Second World War. It is a book I wish I had written -- Tim Shipman, author of No Way Out