The Duel: The Eighty-Day Struggle Between Churchill and Hitler

by John Lukacs

Book Overview

This is a day-by-day account of the eighty-day struggle in 1940 between Hitler--poised on the edge of absolute victory--and Churchill--threatened by imminent invasion and defeat--on the eve of the second World War.

"A masterful book--masterful in its portrayal of its protagonists, masterful in its overall understanding of the death-struggle in which they engaged, masterful, above all, in its vivid, suspenseful chronicling of the most momentous...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300089163
• ISBN13: 9780300089165
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Race is Not to the Swift, Nor the Battle to the Strong.

John Lukacs' book "The Duel" calls to mind the classic hypothetical paradox that asks what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object. In this instance the irresistible force was Adolf Hitler and his armed forces and the immovable object was Winston Churchill. The duel that is the subject of this book takes place in the tumultuous 80-day period between May 10, 1940 and July 30, 1940. Lukacs surrounds the recitation of this 80-day period with two coincidences. On May 10, 1940 Churchill became Prime Minister, replacing Neville Chamberlain. At the same time the battle for Western Europe began in earnest when Hitler launched land and air attacks on Holland, Luxembourg, and Belgium. On July 31, 1940 Hitler began making formal plans for the invasion of the USSR. On that same day U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt decided to go forward with a lend-lease program that would provide the British navy with 50 aging, but much needed destroyers. Events in May and early June provided evidence that Hitler and his advancing armies were something of an irresistible force. The German army and air force made quick work of Holland, Luxembourg, and Belgium. France and its forces were defeated in short order as well. At the same time, in these dark early days, Churchill's hold on power was tenuous at best. As Lukacs is quick to point out, the ousted Chamberlain was more popular amongst Conservative party loyalists. Churchill's only real popular support according to surveys cited by Lukacs came from working class (labour) voters. Hitler and the U.S. Ambassador to Britain Joseph Kennedy both seemed to think that, if anything, Churchill was an easily removable force. Facts, as Lukacs points, proved both Hitler and Joseph Kennedy wrong. The Duel is set out in a point-counterpoint fashion. It alternates between examining the war from the German and then British viewpoint. Although Lukacs is a long-time admirer of Churchill (and with good reason) his analysis of events and of the character and judgments of both Churchill and Hitler seems both astute and objective. Lukacs avoids the easy picture of Hitler as madman and is quite prepared to give him credit for the efficacy of his military plans and his ability to think rationally (and often brilliantly) about military and political developments in Western Europe. Similarly, Lukacs is not above criticizing some of Churchill's decisions or pointing out many of the mis-steps that occurred during this period. The critical events of the 80 days covered by Lukacs'seem to me to be the successful evacuation of 350,000 British and French troops from Dunkerque in early June, Hitler's subsequent decision to not proceed with plans for the invasion of Britain, and his eventual decision at the end of July to invade Russia. Lukacs makes it clear that the German armies could have been a bit more aggressive and could have taken most of those evacuated from Dunkerque prisoner. Yet Hitler grew unusually ca

It Will Change Your View Of History!

"The Duel" tells the incredible tale of the struggle between two world leaders during the 80 days in 1940 beginning with Churchill's selection as His Majesty's first minister.The pages of this book take the reader through the parrying in Norway and the collapse of France, the German preparation for the invasion of England and its abandonment for the invasion of the Soviet Union.A good measure of a book is whether it causes the reader to view things differently. "The Duel" meets this test.I had always viewed Churchill as a great leader for his success in rallying the British people in defiance of the German onslaught. In "The Duel" we see that Churchill lead a parliament which was by no means united. Even though Churchill was determined never to surrender, there were others for whom a negotiated peace was a desirable option. Not limited to pro-fascists, like Oswald Mosely, who was a real contender to lead a Quisling or Petain style government, potential peacemakers includes such British stalwarts as Lord Halifax, David Lloyd George and the Duke of Windsor.Churchill was challenged to rally the French before their collapse, stiffen the resolve of Parliament and coax the U.S. into an alliance with Britain. Although a failure with the French, Churchill was successful in holding his parliamentary support until he was able to gradually lure President Roosevelt and America out of neutrality. Hitler is portrayed as a calculating politician whose rise to the pinnacle of world power was not a fluke. No madman, Hitler had a plan for Germany which he executed with skill. The succession of sophisticated European visitors who were favorably impressed speaks of his charms during personal meetings. In the pages of this book we read of Hitler's appeals to political personalities in France, Britain and the U.S. There is a saying that "If you can't be good, be good at it." Although tragically flawed, Hitler was good at what he did. His personal magnetism, his "vision thing" and his insight made him, temporarily, the most powerful man in the world. Fortunately he was not good enough at it to hold his position for long.Besides the portrait of the individual duelists, we learn of some of the early operations of the war. Of particular fascination is the case of Dunkirk. One of the major unanswered questions of the War is why Hitler held his army back during the evacuation. Did Hitler hope to negotiate a settlement with England, a country for which he often expressed admiration, after letting its army escape? Was he motivated by a desire to create a showpiece for the Luftwaffe? Or was he motivated by practical considerations of the terrain over which the army would have to fight? Although we will never know the answer to the question of why he held back the army, we can speculate that the war would have turned out differently had the B.E.F. been annihilated.The reading of this book left me with an enhanced respect for both Churchill and Hitler. It was

Reads Like a Great Novel

Professor Lukacs provides a fascinating account of two men on a collision course with destiny. Hardly the usual, boring academic treatise, Lukacs bring these men alive for us. I couldn't put it down.

The Greatest Crisis of the Twentieth Century

This book is one of the most thrilling that I have ever read. It is about the 83-day period from May 10, 1940, on which day coincidentally Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain and Adolf Hitler launched the German Army against the Western Front, until July 31, 1940, on which day coincidentally President Franklin Roosevelt decided that America would actively support England against Germany and Hitler decided that he would not after all invade England. The author conceives of this period as the theater of a personal duel between the titanic figures of Churchill and Hitler (as he notes, the German word is "Zweikampf", a fight of two) during which Hitler had his best chance of winning what Lukacs called in an earlier book "the last European war". That this figure of monstrous gifts, as he is described by the author, did not win was the achievement of Churchill, who knew after the fall of France that England and its Commonwealth could not prevail against the power of Germany without America and Russia on its side, but willed that England would not negotiate with Germany until events or persuasion would bring these powers into the war against Naziism. Lukacs acknowledges that the overwhelming power of Russia and America was necessary to defeat Germany, but Churchill's achievement was that England did not lose the war.In a later book, "Five Days in London, May, 1940", the author focuses on the period from May 24 to May 28, 1940 within the period of The Duel. Although this five-day period preceded the fall of France, Lukacs identifies it as the period of most acute crisis because the British War Cabinet came close to deciding that England should begin cease-fire negotiations with Germany. It was Churchill's eloquence and force of character that swayed the members of the government, and ultimately the British people, to reject this idea and fight on alone until Germany launched the invasion of Russia. In "The Duel" he deals with this crisis in a chapter called "The Slippery Slope", a metaphor used by the participants to describe the demoralization of the British public that would have resulted from peace negotiations that might have resulted in a surrender to Germany's demands.Another reviewer has remarked, correctly I think, that there is some overlap and repetition in the several books by the author that deal with Churchill and/or Hitler. However, the author possesses such a powerful narrative drive and brilliance of insight into the psychology of his subjects and significance of events that the repetition of phrases from one book to the next has the effect of a recurring melody in a symphony.I have had the privilege to meet and talk with the author about his work. In my first conversation with him about "The Duel" I told him that from his book I had learned both how close Hitler came to winning the war and how much we owe to Churchill. He commented that I had understood his book very well.

History with a Macroscope

I read this book because I found Lukacs's *Five Days in London: May 1940* so compelling. I was not disappointed, and recommend *The Duel* enthusiastically and without hesitation. Lukacs's way of writing history is wonderfully magisterial. Especially to be appreciated are two complementary gifts: an eye for small significant details and their patterns (as when Hitler's and Churchill's ways of getting up in the morning are contrasted), and a grasp of the big picture (really an asset when something as colossal as the Second World War is under examination). Lukacs's mind is at once a microscope and -- not a telescope (which is really only a microscope aimed at a large distant object instead of a close small one), but, if you will -- a *macroscope*. The result of their combination here is a history rich with significant detail and sweeping visions.Prospective readers should be aware that Lukacs is more than a conventional historian narrating the past. He is also a philosophical historian -- not in the sense that he discusses theories of historiography, but in that for him, history has meaning, and is not merely one damned thing after another. Your appreciation of *The Duel* will inevitably be affected by the degree to which you find his ruminations insightful or ponderous. Philosophical history is not for everyone. Some readers might even be put off by being told that "we are all national socialists now." (p. 223) But if you have the taste for it, as I do, you'll find much food for thought here, and even some wisdom.The volume is well edited, though I, for one, would prefer genuine footnotes to the hard-to-decipher endnotes found here. Lukacs writes with incisiveness and wit. The volume includes an interesting bibliographical essay of some interest.