The Gathering Storm (Winston S. Churchill The Second World War Book 1)

The first volume in Winston S. Churchill's six-volume account of World War II, told from the perspective of a British prime minister. The book covers the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Adolf Hitler, the Munich agreement, and Britain's entry into the war. Churchill presents both his retrospective analysis and primary source materials—memos, letters, orders, speeches, and telegrams—that document day-by-day reactions as events unfold. The narrative follows British strategies and counterstrategies in response to Hitler's conquest of Europe, the planned invasion of England, and the assault on Russia. The book examines how Britain, having learned from Munich, refused to make peace with Hitler even after France fell and Nazi dominance seemed assured. Churchill conveys his view that the Second World War was a largely senseless but unavoidable conflict. Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953, in part because of this work.