Their Finest Hour Author:Winston Churchill "Their Finest Hour," the second volume of Sir Winston Churchill's history of the Second World War, fulfills every expectations aroused by "The Gathering Storm." But now the great Englishman is writing of those days when his country was undergoing her crisis of defeat, the glory of her supreme resistance, and the triumph o... more »f her returning might. Reviewing the story of England's great past, Sir Winston finds that at no time was she as admirable as in her resolute, solitary, and finally triumphant defiance of of the victorious tyranny of Germany. This volume starts with the problems confronted by Churchill as he assumed the office of Prime Minister in 1940; it continues with the Battle of France; the tragic glory of Dunkirk; the Battle of Britain; the rebuilding of England's Army; the desperate struggle to maintain supply lines against the increasing power of the U-Boats, and finally the victorious African campaign which culminated at Tobruk and in which 113,000 prisoners were taken. Amidst all these stirring events, Churchill had to manage the British internal economy; guide the welding of the Commonwealth and Empire into a unified and effective fighting machine, and carry on those complex negotiations with the United States which produced Lend-Lease and the other aid "short of war" which this nation then gave to Brain in her single-handed struggle. Reading this eloquent and frank story of a fateful year, one knows why it was England's Finest Hour when she, alone, showed forth the faith: Then to side with Truth is noble when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and 'tis prosperous to be just.« less