The Churchill War Papers: At the Admirality

Gilbert, Churchill's offical biographer, has selected more than 700 documents pertaining to the statesman's second tenure as First Lord of the Admiralty between the outbreak of WW II and his appointment as Prime Minister. As a member of Neville Chamberlain's war cabinet and later chairman of the military coordinating committee, Churchill was at the center of British war policy from the start. Included in the volume are memos to cabinet colleagues, correspondence with Chamberlain, the full texts of parliamentary speeches and radio addresses, letters from admirers, diary entries and recollections by men and women who worked with him. The documents trace the hour-by-hour progress of the May 10, 1940, crisis following the German invasion of France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and conclude with King George's formal request that Churchill, as the new Prime Minister, form a new government. A major addition to the vast Churchill literature. Illustrations. (May)