Allied by War: CHURCHILL'S SOFT UNDERBELLY

Churchill is remembered for defying Hitler in 1940. But two years later, Singapore has surrendered, Rommel is threatening Egypt, and critics are asking whether Britain needs a different war leader. Churchillian rhetoric can’t make these defeats disappear.

David Reynolds and Russell Barnes revisit the difficult years between Dunkirk and the desert war’s turning point. Why did Churchill send tanks to Egypt while Britain faced invasion? Why was the Suez Canal so important? And why did he favour attacking the Axis through the Mediterranean when the Americans wanted to take the most direct route to Germany through France?

Behind those decisions lay the defence of a now fragile empire and bitter memories of the First World War’s carnage. At home, the socialist politician Stafford Cripps offers a very different vision of Britain’s future. As Tobruk falls in June 1942, Churchill needs a victory very badly. This is the wargame behind the uplifting national memory: uncertain, costly and threatening to end his premiership.