End of the Beginning

Description

As British troops retreat before Rommel's desert army, Egypt and the Suez Canal appear certain to fall. Nazi bombers blast Malta into rubble, Hitler's armies sweep forward in Russia and his U-boats sink record numbers of Allied merchant ships. In Washington Britain's new allies are close to panic, while in London Members of Parliament call for Churchill to resign. And from occupied Europe comes the first evidence of Nazi death camps. The stakes could not be higher. END OF THE BEGINNING continues the stories of some of the men and women first encountered in FINEST HOUR, and introduces a number of new characters. Woven together with the skill that made FINEST HOUR so evocative, these first-hand accounts of ordinary people create an unforgettable portrait of the human spirit under duress. Here too is the story of bitter Anglo-American rivalries and an extraordinary American intelligence blunder that betrayed Britain's plans to Rommel. With precision and compassion, the authors reassess the myths and explain the real story of one of the great hinge points of contemporary history.

Phil Craig: Phil Craig, the creator of the Finest Hour TV series, is a distinguished independent producer of political and historical documentaries., Tim Clayton: Tim Clayton has written extensively on nineteenth and twentieth-century cultural history. He is a producer on the Finest Hour series.

'This is a splendid book, well worth reading along with official histories, for it puts many of the facts into the experiences of ordinary men and women caught up in an unwanted but neccessary war.' -- Yorkshire Gazette & Herald 'An impressive range of interviews with survivors. Their "you are there" technique works powerfully in conveying the gut-wrenching fear of facing Rommel in the turet of a tank, or trying to evade a Stuka attack while manoeuvring an ammunition-packed merchantman en route to beseiged Malta.' -- The Sunday Times 'They are accomplished listeners and have blended together eyewitness accounts to produce an exciting narrative.' -- Daily Mail Praise for FINEST HOUR: 'Brilliant...should form part of the National Curriculum.' -- Daily Mail 'a remarkable story of determined, against-the-odds resistance...you have to search long and hard to find one with this kind of richness in the reporting and craftsmanship in the telling.' -- Chicago Herald Tribune 'From fighter pilots risking their lives in the skies above England, to squaddies stranded at Dunkirk, to schoolgirls sent abroad to Canada (the book is worth buying just for Bess Walder's account of horror and redemption aboard the City of Benares), this is riveting.' -- Sunday Express 'Personally compelling and politically revealing.' -- New York Times 'Compelling...Mesmerising stuff.' -- Sunday Telegraph