The Duel: Hitler Vs Churchill. 10 May - 31 July 1940 - Softcover

Lukacs, John

4.04

497 ratings by Goodreads

9781842121610: The Duel: Hitler Vs Churchill. 10 May - 31 July 1940

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1842121618 ISBN 13: 9781842121610

Publisher: Orion, 2000

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One is poised on the edge of victory, the other threatened by invasion and defeat�yet holding on, his own life in the balance and also that of the free world.

In his reconstruction of the 80 days from May 10 to July 31, 1940, the author shows just how close England came to losing the war. He paints Churchill as resolute, threatened from within and without, yet unshakably determined. And Hitler flushed with victory, yet fatally undecided about how to close with Britain.

"An unforgettable portrait of the mortal duel between two men and the titanic personalities involved." � Book of the Month Editorial Review Board

"Lukacs's is a rigorous intelligence making strong arguments in clear language� I wish other writers on the right would ponder Mr. Lukacs's insight." Daniel Yergin, New York Times Book Review

�An outstanding historian.� David Pryce-Jones, Financial Times

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Product Description:

276 pages. Book appears to have hardly been read and is in Fine condition throughout. The Story Of The 80 Day Struggle Between The Two Leaders.

Review:

Sixty years after the famous evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk, it is easy to forget just how close Adolf Hitler's German forces came to invading and vanquishing Britain in the early summer of 1940. As the German "sickle-cut" (Sichelschnitt) manoeuvre swept south east through Holland, Belgium and northern France, and Norway fell to the German navy, Britain remained unprepared, isolated and increasingly anxious. John Lukacs vividly and dramatically retells this key episode of the Second World War by focusing on the two principal antagonists. Hitler, personally directing operations from the Belgian border, came almost face-to-face with Churchill, the new and controversial British prime minister. Lukacs convincingly shows that the fight was not just fought at sea and on land, but also in the mind. Twice the twitchy Hitler held British destiny in his hand--at Dunkirk in May, and on the eve of launching the invasion operation "sea-lion" in mid-July. Twice he drew back, his nerve and strategy failing him. By contrast, from a much weaker position, Churchill, for all his moodiness, stood calm--coaxing the Americans, bolstering the French and insisting above all that Britain would not make a dishonourable peace. In the battle of wit and words, as The Duel brilliantly shows, Churchill outmastered his rival. Miles Taylor

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