Five Days in London: May 1940

by John Lukacs

Book Overview

Washington Post Book World Bestseller "Customers are raving about Five Days in London."--Amazon.com "Gripping. . . . Lukacs's story is not new . . . but he] has transformed it into a memorable... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300080301
• ISBN13: 9780300080308
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

More Than the Title Suggests

This is a political history of a pivotal one-week period on the uphill side of World War II. Filled with much detail drawn from contemporary accounts, it represents a huge amount of research. It brims with interesting tidbits; You get a real sense of what went on at the highest level of British government in those dark, foreboding days when France was collapsing before the Nazi juggernaut and the BEF was falling back towards the Channel with nary a counter-punch. If there is a weakness in this book, though, it is the implied presumption that the reader is already familiar with the key players. >In the end, this is not a book just about Churchill (whom Lukacs clearly admires and, rightly so, finds truly heroic) or his stiffening of the British spirit. It is also a book supporting a central theme in the worldview Lukacs developed over his career. Lukacs holds that "Churchill understood something that not many people understand even now. The greatest threat to Western civilization was not Communism. It was National Socialism. The greatest and most dynamic power in the world was not Soviet Russia. It was the Third Reich of Germany. The greatest revolutionary of the twentieth century was not Lenin or Stalin. It was Hitler. BR>This book is more than its title suggests. More than just fine history, it is history with a message. The last three pages in particular are worth the time it takes read the whole book. I wonder if we in the West are not at such a juncture today. Five stars for this one, Mr. Lukacs.

More than history -- decision - makers under pressure

This book is a thrill to read: the crucial five day period during which a very small group of determined people, led by one particularly - determined man, persuaded England and The West to hold the line against Hitler, and at least arguably saved The World...The story is not new, but this presentation of it is. A generation -- or so, now -- raised on Wheeler - Bennett and AJP Taylor, and Nicolson and Namier and all the very many others, knows very well the story of Winston Churchill and his country's lonely stand against the Axis just following the Fall of France. What never has been presented as dramatically as John Lukacs now presents it are the machinations, and the political follies and wisdom, and the ultimately very personal story of just how Churchill and a few others convinced the British at the time to do what they did: not in broad brushstrokes -- those are far easier to paint, as so many have on this topic -- but in the meticulous details which, alone, can show the individual frustrations, fears, jealousies, and uncertainties which characterize any truly historic human situation.Detailed and meticulous as it is, however -- Lukacs is a well - respected historian -- the book is very short, and very dramatic, not at all pedantic or defensive as books about the period increasingly tend to be. His writing style flows smoothly. His aim, the author says in his Preface, is to explore an idea he has held for "forty, perhaps even fifty, years" that the five days specified in the title were critical not only because of the Fall of France but also because, "Churchill's situation within the War Cabinet was much more difficult than most people, including historians at that time, thought".The result is a fascinating, day - by - day, account of how single - minded and occasionally - brilliant but nevertheless inexorably - human politicians maneuvered, and ultimately out - maneuvered, each other into positions -- positions which can be seen to be clear and on the side of the angels, or on the other, only in retrospect. At the time, all was very murky, as it perhaps is at any truly significant historical turning point, and Lukacs the careful historian practically forces us to appreciate this.Defenders of Edward Wood, Lord Halifax will be upset by this book, and so perhaps will be the increasing numbers of armchair revisionists of the period now making historical hay from views ranging from "World War II need not have happened" to "World War II did not happen" to "World War II was not a war". There will be arguments -- there are any time someone saves The World, or is suggested to have done so. There also are heroes, occasionally, or at least heroic actions -- and there are traitors, and cowards and fools -- and always there is foolishness, and some bravery and many errors, committed as much by the heroes as by their counterparts.But Lukacs is not chiefly concerned in his book with such after - the - fact debates --

"He saved Britain, Europe and Western Civilization" Author

"But in May 1940 Churchill was the one who did not loose it" This is the theme of a compact, extraordinary 5 days that decided the outcome of WWII. This is certainly not the only event that brought the allies victory, however Mr. Lukacs demonstrates that while England was never in a position to win the war alone, she was in a position to loose it, and Churchill was the individual who saw that it was not lost. I don't believe he overstates Churchill's role in the slightest. Had the War gone the other way Churchill certainly would have been given all the blame. Churchill was flawed, but during the decade of 1930, in what are often referred to as "His Wilderness Years" the same men who would later owe their existence and that of their Country's continuance to him rejected him out of hand. When he finally became Prime Minister it was when all the disasters had begun or had been completed. Churchill was given the mess that he inherited from Chamberlein and others; Alsace Lorraine gone, Austria gone, Czechoslovakia given away with Chamberlain's active participation punctuated by the "Peace In Our Time" debacle. Further, France was quickly falling apart, as were the Low Countries, Dunkirk loomed, and what is worse, Churchill had to cope with members of his own Cabinet that wanted to negotiate with Hitler as he was storming across Europe. Churchill managed to bring those in government and the public to his side, and the rest as they say is History. Mr. Lukacs provides great additional information, footnotes that are as informative as the body of the text, and an even handed description of those players involved including Churchill. Brilliantly written History, that is also readable, and demonstrates that what we may have thought of as an event that actually did take years to finish, may well have been decided in 5 days. Buy the book you will not be disappointed.

A fascinating and exciting read.

Lukacs sets the five days up for readers like a dramatic play...Churchill, Chamberlin, Halifax, etc are fascinating characters carrying the weight of the world as well as their own political baggage. The English people seemed surprisingly unmotivated to continue fighting after the grim results at Dunkirk. The decision made on those five fateful days changed the history of the world. I am an unlikely history fan, but this book was great!

A fine book and superb analysis of a crucial time period

Professor Lukacs has written another great book.(Hitler of History is essential reading too)His argumentation and particularly his footnotes are a pleasure to read.I read it uninterupted during a flight. He has concinced me that Churchill has saved the world from the Third Reich because he early on recognized that the true danger was Hitler and not communism. He is very good at using counterfactuals (what if )too. Lukacs is one of my favorate historians because he tells us why things happened . I am trying to read all his work.