Britain's War

Britain's resistance to Nazi Germany during the Second World War is often told as a tale of national endurance. Its memory lives on in stone carvings, films and a steady flow of books, yet the eventual victory was far from certain when it was still unfolding. In late 1940, a few months after the declaration of war, the War Office's director of plans was asked to set out a strategy for winning. His answer was that he could only plan to avoid defeat.

Daniel Todman's Britain's War: Into Battle, 1937-1941 is the first of two volumes that retell this period from the ground up. The author begins with a box of old medals, probably his grandfather's, found in a hearing-aid case, and notices that many younger people have little sense of what was at stake. Rather than focusing on one famous moment of defiance, Todman presents the conflict as a long process in which the country had to adapt day by day and year by year.

The volume covers the years from 1937 to late 1941. It moves through the rearmament drive, the collapse of appeasement, the invasion of Poland, the quiet months of early conflict, the fall of France, the evacuation from Dunkirk, the air battles over Britain and the bombing of its cities. It closes with the United States entering the war at the end of 1941. Throughout, Todman combines economic, strategic, social, cultural and military history into a single account. Industrial expansion, shortages and rationing, parliamentary wrangling, class prejudice and the use of the wider empire appear alongside the opening battles.

The book follows a wide range of people, from politicians and factory owners to publicans, homemakers, RAF pilots and the sailors at Dunkirk, all caught up in a struggle that threatened Britain and, by extension, much of the world.