Allied by War: CHURCHILL'S GAMBLE

News of Tobruk’s surrender reaches Churchill while he is meeting Roosevelt in Washington. It seems like the worst possible moment to ask for help. Yet Roosevelt offers it, and Churchill sets about rebuilding Britain’s military fortunes while defending his Mediterranean strategy.

David Reynolds and Russell Barnes follow the appointment of Montgomery, his victory at El Alamein and Operation Torch – the Anglo-American landings in North Africa. Churchill’s diplomacy is equally energetic. In Moscow, he has to tell Stalin there will be no invasion of France in 1942. This delicate encounter draws on all the PM’s talents – the artist sketching a crocodile, the actor alternating between sweet reason and histrionic fury, and a long night to see who can outdrink the other.

At Casablanca, the Mediterranean campaign acquires fresh momentum. The invasion of Sicily will help bring down Mussolini, but another postponement of the second front leaves Stalin seething. Churchill has recovered much of his authority. But keeping his allies behind his strategy will be much harder.