“McCarten’s pulse-pounding narrative transports the reader to those springtime weeks in 1940 when the fate of the world rested on the shoulders of Winston Churchill. A true story thrillingly told. Thoroughly researched and compulsively readable.”—Michael F. Bishop, Executive Director of the International Churchill SocietyFrom the acclaimed novelist and screenwriter of The Theory of Everything … novelist and screenwriter of The Theory of Everything comes a revelatory look at the period immediately following Winston Churchill’s ascendancy to Prime Minister—now a major motion picture starring Gary Oldman.
“He was speaking to the nation, the world, and indeed to history…”
May, 1940. Britain is at war. The horrors of blitzkrieg have seen one western European democracy after another fall in rapid succession to Nazi boot and shell. Invasion seems mere hours away.
Just days after becoming Prime Minister, Winston Churchill must deal with this horror—as well as a skeptical King, a party plotting against him, and an unprepared public. Pen in hand and typist-secretary at the ready, how could he change the mood and shore up the will of a nervous people?
In this gripping day-by-day, often hour-by-hour account of how an often uncertain Churchill turned Britain around, the celebrated Bafta-winning writer Anthony McCarten exposes sides of the great man never seen before. He reveals how he practiced and re-wrote his key speeches, from ‘Blood, toil, tears and sweat’ to ‘We shall fight on the beaches’; his consideration of a peace treaty with Nazi Germany, and his underappreciated role in the Dunkirk evacuation; and, above all, how 25 days helped make one man an icon.
Using never-before-accessed archive material, McCarten reveals the crucial behind-the-scenes moments that changed the course of history. It’s a scarier—and more human—story than has ever been told.
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I purchased the DARKEST HOUR after having seen (and loved) the movie with Gary Oldman. My knowledge of 20th century history is spotty at best, so I was a little concerned that I would get quickly bogged down. No worries, as it turned out. We get more background in the book than the movie, naturally, and it did not talk over my head. I would say that the drama was a bit lacking (although not the conflict), but since this is a history and not a novel, that is to be expected. My take-away is a better understanding of the actual dissension between the major players (Churchill, Halifax, and Chamberlain); Churchill’s position was much more precarious than I realized. In the background of the Dunkirk evacuation—with its success far from certain—Churchill had to make a critical decision whether to “make a deal” with Mussolini to keep the Italians from entering the war, or wait it out in the hopes that the British army would not be annihilated and they could go on to fight another day. It was the author’s intent to clarify whether Churchill was playing a game of dissimulation with his adversaries, or did he really consider “caving in” to their insistence that he should negotiate a peace deal with Hitler through Mussolini. As the author states in the epilogue: “As previously noted, the historian David Cannandine said of Churchill’s character that he was ‘at once simple, ardent, innocent and incapable of deception or intrigue’. If so, then why foist upon him days and days of deception and intrigue when there is no record, either before or after this event, of his being so deceptive or intriguing?” Throughout this short but intense episode, Churchill overcomes his past failures and emerges as an indomitable war leader, as well as one of the greatest orators of our time. I found this book very readable and would heartily recommend it.
A very true and accurate account of the dark times of world war 2. Fantastic writing.
Wish it had gone further , but held true to its title. The Darkest Hours
Ehh, fresh take on Churchill’s early years and how that part of his life might have impacted the rest of his life. For me, while not disputing the facts, it took a little shine off the icon.
I was not moved by this account of Churchill
A good read and one that held attention until the end.
I enjoyed it, but sometimes it was a bit dry and the author spent too much time on certain aspects of the story. I would have liked it to have gone further in Churchill’s life and actions during the war, but I guess that wasn’t the author’s intent. I would have to read other books for that.
We need another Churchill and Thatcher … they got things done
the story behind the miracle of Dunkirk and the beginning of WWII
Interesting.. but super dry. The movie was awesome but the moves much more slowly
This book is a bit of a slog – does not move with the same pace as the movie. But it is very informative about a crucial period in our history.
A great read on the inspiring Churchill and his cabinet during their solitary opposition of Hitler’s war machine !
It revealed a new light on Churchill
Movie is so much better for book is tedious in too many places.