The Hinge of Fate

Front Cover
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1986 - Biography & Autobiography - 952 pages
The British prime minister's dramatic account of how the Allies turned the tide of World War II.

In the first half of the book, Winston Churchill describes the fearful period in which the Germans threaten to overwhelm the Red Army, Rommel dominates the war in the desert, and Singapore falls to the Japanese. In the span of just a few months, the Allies begin to turn the tide, achieving decisive victories at Midway and Guadalcanal, and repulsing the Germans at Stalingrad. As confidence builds, the Allies begin to gain ground against the Axis powers.

This is the fourth in the six-volume account of World War II told from the unique viewpoint of the man who led his nation in the fight against tyranny. The series is enriched with extensive primary sources, as we are presented with not only Churchill's retrospective analysis of the war, but also memos, letters, orders, speeches, and telegrams, day-by-day accounts of reactions as the drama intensifies. Throughout these volumes, we listen as strategies and counterstrategies unfold in response to Hitler's conquest of Europe, planned invasion of England, and assault on Russia, in a mesmerizing account of the crucial decisions made as the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

From inside the book

Contents

Chapter Page I AUSTRALASIAN ANXIETIES
3
THE SETBACK IN THE Desert
18
The Setback in the Desert January 1942 33535
27
PENALTIES IN MALAYA
32
The Malayan Peninsula
35
Malaya
52
A VOTE OF CONFIDENCE
53
CABINET CHANGES
65
BOOK II
369
Chapter Page XXIV THE EIGHTH ARMY AT BAY
371
The Fall of Tobruk
373
DECISION FOR TORCH
390
MY JOURNEY TO CAIRO CHANGES IN COM MAND
408
THE FIRST MEETING
425
A RELATIONSHIP ESTABLISHED
436
RETURN TO CAIRO
452

THE FALL OF SINGAPORE
81
Singapore Island
93
THE UBOAT PARADISE
95
Atlantic Defence Organisation 1942
108
Merchant Ships Sunk
116
THE LOSS OF THE DUTCH EAST INDIES
118
THE INVASION OF BURMA
134
The A B D A Operations facing
142
Burma
149
CEYLON AND THE BAY OF BENGAL
152
THE SHIPPING STRANGLEHOLD
167
THE CRIPPS MISSION
181
MADAGASCAR
197
The Attack on Diego Suarez
209
AMERICAN NAVAL VICTORIES THE CORAL SEA AND MIDWAY ISLAND
213
THE ARCTIC CONVOYS
228
Track of P Q 17
236
THE OFFENSIVE IN THE ĘTHER
248
MALTA AND TIIE DESERT
260
SECOND FRONT NOW
280
THE MOLOTOV VISIT
292
The Russian Winter Offensives JanuaryMarch 1942
307
STRATEGIC NATURAL SELECTION
309
ROMMEL ATTACKS
319
Rommels Plan for May 2728
322
The Western Desert
335
MY SECOND VISIT TO WASHINGTON
336
THE VOTE OF CENSURE
351
THE FINAL SHAPING OF TORCH
471
Rommels Repulse August 31September 5 5
491
SUSPENSE AND STRAIN
493
SOVIET THANK YOU
505
The German Campaign in Russia 1942
523
THE BATTLE OF ALAMEIN
526
The Breakthrough
540
THE TORCH IS LIT
542
AlgiersTunis
557
THE DARLAN EPISODE
565
PROBLEMS OF VICTORY
581
OUR NEED TO MEET
592
THE CASABLANCA CONFERENCE
604
ADANA AND TRIPOLI
623
Russian Counterattacks at Stalingrad
639
HOME TO TROUBLE
643
Tunisia
656
RUSSIA AND THE WESTERN ALLIES
663
VICTORY IN TUNIS
682
Forcing the Mareth Line
685
MY THIRD VISIT TO WASHINGTON
699
PROBLEMS OF WAR AND PEACE
715
ITALY THE GOAL
726
APPENDICES
745
A List of Abbreviations
747
B List of CodeNames
748
Copyright

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About the author (1986)

The grandson of the former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, Winston S. Churchill is an author whose books include the best-selling Six Days of War. He was a journalist; former war correspondent; and a member of the British Parliament from 1970-1997.