
Britain at Bay
The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938-1941
Alan Allport(Author)
Vintage Books (Publisher)
Published on 26. October 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
640 pages
978-1-101-97469-8 (ISBN)
Description
From statesmen and military commanders to ordinary Britons, a bold, sweeping history of Britain's entrance into World War II—and its efforts to survive it—illuminating the ways in which the war permanently transformed a nation and its people
“Might be the single best examination of British politics, society and strategy in these four years that has ever been written.” —The Wall Street Journal
Here is the many-faceted, world-historically significant story of Britain at war. In looking closely at the military and political dimensions of the conflict’s first crucial years, Alan Allport tackles pressing questions such as whether the war could have been avoided, how it could have been lost, how well the British lived up to their own values, and ultimately, what difference the war made to the fate of the nation. In answering these questions, he reexamines our assumptions and paints a vivid portrait of the ways in which the Second World War transformed British culture and society. This bracing account draws on a lively cast of characters—from the political and military leaders who made the decisions, to the ordinary citizens who lived through them—in a comprehensible and compelling single history of forty-six million people. A sweeping and groundbreaking epic, Britain at Bay gives us a fresh look at the opening years of the war, and illuminates the integral moments that, for better or for worse, made Britain what it is today.
“Might be the single best examination of British politics, society and strategy in these four years that has ever been written.” —The Wall Street Journal
Here is the many-faceted, world-historically significant story of Britain at war. In looking closely at the military and political dimensions of the conflict’s first crucial years, Alan Allport tackles pressing questions such as whether the war could have been avoided, how it could have been lost, how well the British lived up to their own values, and ultimately, what difference the war made to the fate of the nation. In answering these questions, he reexamines our assumptions and paints a vivid portrait of the ways in which the Second World War transformed British culture and society. This bracing account draws on a lively cast of characters—from the political and military leaders who made the decisions, to the ordinary citizens who lived through them—in a comprehensible and compelling single history of forty-six million people. A sweeping and groundbreaking epic, Britain at Bay gives us a fresh look at the opening years of the war, and illuminates the integral moments that, for better or for worse, made Britain what it is today.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Random House USA Inc
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
1082 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-101-97469-8 (9781101974698)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
11/2020
Vintage
€1.99
Available for download
Person
ALAN ALLPORT is a British-born historian, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, who specializes in the British role in the Second World War. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently an associate professor of history in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is the author of Demobbed: Coming Home After the Second World War (2010), which won the Longman-History Today Book of the Year Award, and Browned Off and Bloody-Minded: The British Soldier Goes to War 1939-1945 (2015). He has also written for several publications, including, The Wall Street Journal, The Times (London), The Literary Review, and the London Review of Books. He lives in Syracuse, New York.
Content
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Foreword
A Note on Money
Part One: The British Way and Purpose
1. Shire Folk
2. Ulster Kristallnacht
3. A Different Kind of Nation
4. The School of Empire
Part Two: Umbrella Man
5. Guilty Man
6. The Bones of a British Grenadier
7. The Stupidest Thing That Has Ever Been Done
8. To Make Gentle the Life of the World
9. The Sharpening of the Claws
Part Three: Companions in Misfortune
10. The Other Dunkirk
11. Class War
12. Bras-Dessus, Bras-Dessous
13. In the Name of God
14. A Certain Eventuality
Part Four: And Only England Stands
15. Lunatic Relief
16. All Our Past Proclaims Our Future
17. Margins
18. The Scouring of the Shire Folk
Part Five: ‘A New and Most Bitter Phase of the War’
19. American Lebensraum
20. Shapeless, Measureless Peril
21. The Carotid Artery of Empire
22. Taking the Gloves Off
23. March on to Better Days
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
List of Maps
Foreword
A Note on Money
Part One: The British Way and Purpose
1. Shire Folk
2. Ulster Kristallnacht
3. A Different Kind of Nation
4. The School of Empire
Part Two: Umbrella Man
5. Guilty Man
6. The Bones of a British Grenadier
7. The Stupidest Thing That Has Ever Been Done
8. To Make Gentle the Life of the World
9. The Sharpening of the Claws
Part Three: Companions in Misfortune
10. The Other Dunkirk
11. Class War
12. Bras-Dessus, Bras-Dessous
13. In the Name of God
14. A Certain Eventuality
Part Four: And Only England Stands
15. Lunatic Relief
16. All Our Past Proclaims Our Future
17. Margins
18. The Scouring of the Shire Folk
Part Five: ‘A New and Most Bitter Phase of the War’
19. American Lebensraum
20. Shapeless, Measureless Peril
21. The Carotid Artery of Empire
22. Taking the Gloves Off
23. March on to Better Days
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index