In the days between May 24 and 28, 1940, the British War Cabinet held a historic debate over whether to negotiate with Hitler or to continue the war. In this magisterial book, John Lukacs demonstrates the decisive importance of these five days.Lukacs takes us hour by hour into the critical unfolding of events at 10 Downing Street, where Churchill, who had only been prime minister a fortnight, painfully considered his war responsibilities. We see how the military disasters taking pl...

In May 1940, the course of history hung in the balance for five long days while Churchill's War Cabinet debated whether to negotiate with Hitler or continue opposition. In this compelling narrative, scholar and renowned author John Lukacs draws on memoirs and papers to convey the drama of those troubled times. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, regarded by many to be hotheaded, has only been in office for a fortnight when a quarter of a million British solders become trapped by the Germans ...

In this book, originally published in 1977, John Lukacs argues that the years 1939–41 were the decisive phase of the Second World War and The Last European War describes the history of an entire continent during these two years, one of the most crucial periods in Western civilization. Unorthodox in his approach, in this book, the author looks critically at many of the myths, military and political, that still obscure the history of the Second World War. He shows how the war was ex...

An unorthodox historian known and respected for his work on the grand conflicts of nations and civilizations, John Lukacs has peopled a smaller canvas in this volume, with seven colourful figures who flourished in Philadelphia before 1950. Their stories are framed by chapters that describe the city in 1900 and in 1950.The Philadelphians selected are a political boss, Boies Penrose; a magazine mogul, Edward Bok; an elegant writer, Agnes Repplier; an impetuous diplomat, William C. Bullitt; a...

This day-by-day account of the maneuvering between Britain and Germany in 1940 is "a wonderful story wonderfully told" (George F. Will, New York Times-bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner).During the late spring and early summer of 1940, Hitler was poised on the edge of absolute victory, having advanced rapidly through a large part of Europe—and Britain was threatened by imminent invasion and defeat. From the acclaimed author of Five Days in Lon...

A "gripping [and] splendidly readable" portrait of the battle within the British War Cabinet—and Churchill's eventual victory—as Hitler's shadow loomed ( The Boston Globe).From May 24 to May 28, 1940, members of Britain's War Cabinet debated whether to negotiate with Hitler or to continue what became known as the Second World War. In this magisterial work, John Lukacs takes us hour by hour into the critical events at 10 Downing Street, where Winston Church...

A distinguished historian and Budapest native offers a rich and eloquent portrait of one of the great European cities at the height of its powers.Budapest, like Paris and Vienna, experienced a remarkable exfoliation at the end of the nineteenth century. In terms of population growth, material expansion, and cultural exuberance, it was among the foremost metropolitan centers of the world, the cradle of such talents as Bartók, Kodály, Krúdy, Ady, Molnár, Koestler, Sz...

The historian John Lukacs offers a concise history of the twentieth century—its two world wars and cold war, its nations and leaders. The great themes woven through this spirited narrative are inseparable from the author's own intellectual preoccupations: the fading of liberalism, the rise of populism and nationalism, the achievements and dangers of technology, and the continuing democratization of the globe.The historical twentieth century began with the First World War in 1914 an...

"Lukacs convincingly portrays a leader of an empire in irreversible decline and a towering, if flawed, hero of our time."— Publishers WeeklyIn previous works, John Lukacs told the story of Winston Churchill's titanic struggle with Adolf Hitler in the early days of World War II. Now, he turns his attention to the man himself, the workings of his historical imagination, and his successes and failures as a visionary statesman.Chapter by chapter, Lukacs...