One of the most fascinating works of history ever written, Winston Churchill's
monumental The Second World War is a six-volume account of the struggle of the
Allied powers in Europe against Germany and the Axis. Told through the eyes of
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, The Second World War is also the story
of one nation?s singular, heroic role in the fight against tyranny. Pride and
patriotism are evident everywhere in Churchill?s dramatic account and for good
reason. Having learned a lesson at Munich that they would never forget, the
British refused to make peace with Hitler, defying him even after France had
fallen and after it seemed as though the Nazis were unstoppable. Churchill
remained unbowed throughout, as did the people of Britain in whose determination
and courage he placed his confidence.

Patriotic as Churchill was, he managed to maintain a balanced impartiality in
his description of the war. What is perhaps most interesting, and what lends the
work its tension and emotion, is Churchill?s inclusion of a significant amount
of primary material. We hear his retrospective analysis of the war, to be sure,
but we are also presented with memos, letters, orders, speeches, and telegrams
that give a day-by-day account of the reactions - both mistaken and justified -
to the unfolding drama. Strategies and counterstrategies develop to respond to
Hitler?s ruthless conquest of Europe, his planned invasion of England, and his
treacherous assault on Russia. It is a mesmerizing account of the crucial
decisions that have to be made with imperfect knowledge and an awareness that
the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

The Gathering Storm is the first volume of The Second World War. In some ways
a continuation of The World Crisis, Churchill?s history of World War I, The
Gathering Storm is his attempt to come to grips with the terrible circumstances
that gave rise to Nazi Germany and a second, even more destructive world conflict.
As he notes in his preface, Churchill was perhaps the only person who held such
prominent positions of power in both world wars, so he is remarkably well-
qualified to tell the tragic story of war to peace to war. The Gathering Storm
considers the stipulations and consequences of the Treaty of Versailles, the rise
of Adolf Hitler, the capitulation at Munich and the entry of the British into the
war. The volume is pervaded by Churchill?s somber feeling that the Second World
War was largely a senseless and avoidable conflict, but it sets the stage for the
heroism and glory that are to follow.

Churchill won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 due in no small part to this
awe-inspiring work. Winston S. Churchill (1874-1965) has been called by historians
"the man of the twentieth century." He was Prime Minister of Great Britain (1940-
1945). This is in epub format.

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