Winston Churchill's six-volume history of the cataclysm that swept the world remains the definitive history of the Second World War. Lucid, dramatic, remarkable both for its breadth and sweep and for its sense of personal involvement, it is universally acknowledged as a magnificent reconstruction and is an enduring, compelling work that led to his being awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Their Finest Hour enthrallingly recounts key events and battles from May to December 1940 as Britain stood isolated while Nazi Germany pursued its seemingly unconquerable war path - the fall of France, Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, the horrors of the Blitz and Hitler's plans to invade and crush Russia, his sole ally in Europe.
Chapter 1: The National Coalition
Chapter 2: The Battle of France: Gamelin The First Week, May 10 to May 16
Chapter 3: The Battle of France: The Second Week: Weygand May 17 to May 24
Chapter 4: The March to the Sea: May 24 to May 31
Chapter 5: The Deliverance of Dunkirk: May 26 to June 4
Chapter 6: The Rush for the Spoils
Chapter 7: Back to France: June 4 to June 12
Chapter 10: The Bordeaux Armistice
Chapter 11: Admiral Darlan and the French Fleet: Oran
Chapter 12: The Apparatus of Counter-Attack: 1940
Chapter 13: At Bay: July, 1940
Chapter 14: The Invasion Problem
Chapter 15: Operation Sea Lion
Chapter 1: The Battle of Britain
Chapter 3: “London Can Take It”
Chapter 5: The United States Destroyers and West Indian Bases
Chapter 6: Egypt and the Middle East: 1940: June — July — August
Chapter 7: The Mediterranean Passage
Chapter 10: Mr. Eden’s Mission: October, 1940
Chapter 11: Relations with Vichy and Spain
Chapter 12: Mussolini Attacks Greece: October–November, 1940
Chapter 14: Germany and Russia
Appendix A. Prime Minister’s Personal Minutes and Telegrams, May—December 1940
Appendix B. Weekly Losses at Sea by Enemy Action of British, Allied and Neutral Merchant Tonnage
Appendix C. Aircraft Strength, Battle of Britain, 1940
Appendix D. Correspondence Relating to Dakar between Mr. Churchill and Mr. Menzies
Appendix E. List of Operational Code Names for 1940—1941