Churchill, Master and Commander: Winston Churchill at War 1895–1945 Spiral-Bound | November 23, 2021

Winston Churchill is widely hailed as Britain’s greatest wartime leader and politician. Deep down, though, he was foremost a warlord. Just like his ally Stalin and his archenemies Hitler and Mussolini, Churchill could not help himself and insisted on personally directing the strategic conduct of World War II. For better or worse he insisted on being political master and military commander. Again like his wartime contemporaries, he had a habit of not heeding the advice of his generals. The results of this were disasters in Norway, North Africa, Greece, and Crete during 1940 and 1941. Churchill’s pigheadedness over supporting the Italian campaign in defiance of the Riviera landings culminated in his threatening to resign and bring down the British government. Yet on occasion he got it just right: his refusal to surrender in 1940, the British miracle at Dunkirk, and victory in the Battle of Britain showed that he was a much-needed decisive leader. Nor did he shy away from difficult decisions, such as the destruction of the French Fleet to prevent it falling into German hands and his subsequent war against Vichy France.
In this fascinating new book, acclaimed historian Anthony Tucker-Jones explores the record of Winston Churchill as a military commander. This book assesses his choices in the some of the most controversial and high-profile campaigns of World War II and how in high office his decision making was both right and wrong.