Empire Lost: Britain, the Dominions and the Second World War

Description

Using government records, private letters and diaries and contemporary media sources, this book examines the key themes affecting the relationship between Britain and the Dominions during the Second World War, the Empire's last great conflict. It asks why this political and military coalition was ultimately successful in overcoming the challenge of the Axis powers but, in the process, proved unable to preserve itself. Although these changes were inevitable the manner of the evolution was sometimes painful, as Britain's wartime economic decline left its political position exposed in a changing post-war international system.

Andrew Stewart is a Lecturer in Defence Studies, King's College London (at the Joint Services Command and Staff College).

Title mention in Bookseller Buyers Guide. Mention -Book News, February 2009 '[Stewart] analyses the various tensions with an acute eye and shows how the war changed the Empire-Commonwealth forever.' - Contemporary Review "He analyses the various tensions with an acute eye and shows how the war changed the Empire-Commonwealth forever..." Contemporary Review, Summer 2009 "...a fascinating account...a valuable and detailed exploration of the issues that both united and divided the Dominions of the Empire in its greatest test." The Journal of Military History "This is a meticulously-crafted and impeccably-executed tour of the issues, personalities, departments and diplomatic mechanisms at the heart of a vital global alliance that was a key feature of Allied victory and the shaping of the post-war world. The author is to be congratulated for a supreme model of compression...the story is told with pithy dispatch in 170 pages..." English Historical Review, August 2009