Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Review In his six-volume history of World War II, Winston Churchill deemed the year 1942 as "the hinge of fate," the year in which the German and Japanese armies began to be turned back. John Lukacs suggests that the last days of May 1940 were more important still in turning the tide of war in democracy's favor, for it was in those few days that Churchill convinced his cabinet that Britain should fight on, alone, if need be, against Adolf Hitler's regime. Even as a quarter of a million British troops were being evacuated from Dunkirk, Churchill struggled to reverse the British government's policy of appeasement. In this, he faced opposition from several quarters, including prominent figures within his own Conservative Party. Writing with evident admiration for Churchill--who, he points out, was not well liked, and who had been prime minister for only two weeks when war broke out--Lukacs gives his readers a fly-on-the-wall view of the heated conferences between such well-known participants as Harold Nicholson, Lord Halifax, Neville Chamberlain, and Alexander Cadogan. "Churchill understood something that not many people understand even now," Lukacs writes in the closing pages of his book. "The greatest threat to Western civilization was not Communism. It was National Socialism. The greatest and most dynamic power in the world was not Soviet Russia. It was the Third Reich of Germany. The greatest revolutionary of the twentieth century was not Lenin or Stalin. It was Hitler." By convincing his government that his view was correct, Churchill afforded Western civilization a slim chance at survival--no small achievement, and one well worth honoring with this fine study. --Gregory McNamee From Publishers Weekly Eminent historian Lukacs (Thread of Years, etc.) delivers the crown jewel to his long and distinguished career with this account of five daysAMay 24-28, 1940A"that could have changed the world." Lukacs posits that it was during those five days in London "that Western civilization, not to mention the Allied cause in WWII, was saved from Hitler's tyranny." A grand view, to be sure, but the consequences are not in dispute: "Had Britain stopped fighting in May 1940, Hitler would have won his war," writes Lukacs. "Thus he was never closer to victory than during those five days in May 1940." A quarter-million British troops were trapped by the Germans at Dunkirk. The British public, ill-informed about this reality, remained apathetic, and the War Cabinet was divided over what action to take. Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union had yet entered the war, but Churchill resolved to fight "till Hitler is beat or we cease to be a state." Lukacs draws heavily on newspapers and public opinion research of the time to re-create the rapid series of events that turned the tide, swaying both the citizenry and the War Cabinet to rally behind Churchill. Though Churchill did not win the war in May 1940, as Lukacs puts it, he "did not lose it" then. Lukacs covered some of the same turf in The Duel, yet this new work focuses on these five days with a microscopic view. It is the work of a man who lives and breathes history, whose knowledge is limitless and tuned to a pitch that rings true. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal By May 1940, just one year into World War II, Great Britain stood virtually alone against Hitler and the unstoppable German Army. Belgium and France were only days away from capitulation, and the British Expeditionary Force was being squeezed into the beachhead at Dunkirk. Things were not going at all well for Britain, and Churchill and his War Cabinet had some tough decisions to make. Lukacs, a history professor and prolific author (The Hitler of History) examines the dynamics of the five days, May 24-28, 1940, when Churchill and his War Cabinet actually debated whether to negotiate peace with Hitler. This scholarly study reveals the drama, uncertainty, suspense, and courage of the men who would ultimately decide the fate of Britain. This is a marvelous example of the complex, behind-the-scenes diplomatic wrangling involved in seeking a national advantage in the deadly game of strategic move and countermove. Recommended for public and academic libraries.AWilliam D. Bushnell, USMC (ret.), Brunswick, ME Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review “This gem of a book, the distillation of an important historian’s life work, is a compelling antidote for those afflicted with historical amnesia.”—Kai Bird, Washington Post “Lukacs’s scholarship re-creates with great immediacy the chaotic few days during which, according to the author, Hitler came closest to winning the war. . . . Lukacs concentrates on the struggle with the British War Cabinet, which pitted the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, against the Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax. . . . Churchill’s stubborn refusal won out. The author’s equally stubborn digging uncovered a stunning amount of defeatism and intrigue against Churchill by contemporary statesmen.“—New Yorker “Churchill’s response [to Hitler’s proposals is] superlatively chronicled in John Lukacs’s moving Five Days in London, May 1940.”—Simon Schama, New York Review of Books “Lukacs, who has written about World War II in several earlier books, reviews the British record at this moment through hypothetical Anglophobe eyes. . . . [A] fascinating work of historical reconstruction. . . . [Lukacs] gives us much to ponder in this intriguing—and perhaps still controversial—story.”—Stanley Weintraub, Wall Street Journal “This is a readable and rigorous little volume that is put down with difficulty in the middle and with regret at the end.”—Conrad Black, Daily Telegraph “Historian John Lukacs, who has written widely on World War II and on Hitler and Churchill, comprehensively traces the events of that long weekend, which culminated in Churchill’s decision on May 28th to fight on, no matter what happened to France. He did not, in that weekend of courage and remarkable self-confidence, win the war, as Lukacs makes clear, but rather gave the first breath of the bellows to the desperate embers of hope for the Allies.”—David Murray, New York Times Book Review “[A] word-of-mouth best seller. . . . Gripping.”—Michael Glitz, New York Post “This is as dramatic a moment in history as you are likely to get.”—Forbes “[A] brilliant, heavyweight little book. . . . This is a modern history that refuses easy answers: its skillful concision cuts painfully to the bone and spills real blood on the carpets of Whitehall and Westminster.”—Times (UK) “John Lukacs’s account of five dramatic days in May 1940, when Winston Churchill and his Cabinet had to decide whether to negotiate or stand alone against Hitler, is a relatively compact book, but it has the power and sweep of Shakespeare’s chronicle plays. . . . One of Lukacs’s impressive strengths is a gripping narrative drive. He is lucid and splendidly readable, and furthermore, commands a host of dramatic characters.“—Robert Taylor, Boston Globe “Eminent historian Lukacs delivers the crown jewel to his long and distinguished career with this account of five days—May 24–28, 1940—that could have changed the world. Lukacs posits that it was during those five days in London ‘that Western civilization, not to mention the Allied cause in WWII, was saved from Hitler’s tyranny.’ . . . This new work focuses on these five days with a microscopic view. It is the work of a man who lives and breathes history, whose knowledge is limitless and tuned to a pitch that rings true.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “[Readers] are in for a treat that encompasses everything from grand strategy to British domestic politics, the behavior of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to the gritty diary of George Orwell, and even the glorious weather of those five crucial days. . . . Five Days in London is political history of a very high standard.”—Morris Williams, Daily Yomiuri “Nobody has done more than John Lukacs to turn the short history book into an art form. His masterpiece, Five Days in London, May 1940, was immediately recognized as a modern classic. The wonderful clarity of his thought led directly to the clarity of his prose. Lukacs, an American professor of Hungarian birth and the author of nearly 30 works, is undoubtedly one of the wisest thinkers on the period.”—Antony Beevor, Toronto Globe & Mail “Artfully constructed and elegantly narrated.”—Philadelphia Inquirer “[A] riveting book. . . . Lukacs weaves his account from a rich assembly sources—excerpts from the diaries of Enoch Powell, Evelyn Waugh, George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, mystery writer Margery Allingam, all the official records and the opinion surveys that kept showing a stubborn determination of the ordinary British to carry on.”—Sandra Gwyn, Toronto Globe & Mail “There is a great deal of new material here. . . . An immensely valuable contribution to the literature of World War II.”—New York Military Affairs Newsletter “Superb. . . . John Lukacs’s book—at once a provocative work of history and a marvelous historical entertainment, one that can be compared to such classics as Hugh Trevor-Roper’s The Last Days of Hitler and Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August—offers a timely reminder of what a debt the world owes Sir Winston Churchill.”—Michael Korda, Harper’s Magazine “Between May 24 and May 28 [1940], history itself was in the balance, and Lukacs reconstructs these days with the immediacy and detail of a thriller, using a wide range of government and private papers.”—David Pryce-Jones, National Review “A skillful weaving together of great power diplomacy, intra-War Cabinet debates, and pulse-takings of British blokes-in-the-street. . . . A book with many virtues, the most surprising of which may be its timeliness.”—Weekly Standard “A page-turner. . . . Painstaking, meticulous, and fascinating.”—America “Lukacs has constructed a gripping narrative. . . . This is a must for every World War II buff.”—Jules Wagman, Cleveland Plain Dealer “Reads as excitingly as any thriller or adventure story.”—Washington Times “Those concerned with the long tides of history and with the coils of chance in human destiny will delight in the elegant, searching and affecting book Lukacs has written about a critical time.”—Lynwood Abram, Houston Chronicle “Thanks to John Lukacs, we now have a far clearer understanding of that time nearly 60 years ago that held such dangerous and courageous choices for the future of mankind.”—Calvin L. Christman, Dallas Morning News “No historian of the Second World War has John Lukac’s range, acuteness, intuition. He has written great works. Now comes a masterpiece. In the Five Days in London we are present, moment by moment, May 24 to May 28, 1940, as the British War Cabinet ponders whether to seek terms from Hitler, or fight on. Alone. . . . ‘Not only the end of a European war but the end of Western civilization was near.’ In the end Churchill prevails—just.”—Daniel Patrick Moynihan “I consider John Lukacs one of the outstanding historians of the generation and, indeed, of our time.”—Jacques Barzun “John Lukacs is one of the most original and profound of contemporary thinkers.”—Paul Fussell   About the Author John Lukacs was professor of history at Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, until his retirement and has been visiting professor at many universities. He is the author of twenty-one books, among them The Hitler of History, The Duel, The End of the Twentieth Century, The End of the Modern Age (which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize), and A Thread of Years. He is the recipient of numerous academic honors and awards. From AudioFile Over five crucial days in May 1940, the British, under the leadership of Winston Churchill, resolve to fight the Nazis, rather negotiate with Hitler. With a delightful British accent and a professional quality voice, Howard reads this fascinating book. Howard's pace is excellent, and he never falters with the many names of foreign individuals and places. Howard's reading also communicates the tension during those fateful days. Lukacs's text, which presents the background to and significance of those days, is sharply written. M.L.C. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine Read more