Blood, Sweat and Arrogance: The Myths of Churchill's War - Tapa dura

'Key episodes are... brilliantly described and lucidly explained. Corrigan also peppers his narrative with an engrossing array of military knowledge.' (Noble Frankland SPECTATOR)

'Bracing, challenging and highly informative.' (GOOD BOOK GUIDE)

'Corrigan masterfully exposes how Britain... could not prevent the Nazis storming across Europe in 1940... magnificently written... read and weep.' (TRIBUNE)

'This is an excellent book, and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the Second World War.' (Gerry Long THE BRITISH ARMY REVIEW)

Gordon Corrigan's Mud, Blood and Poppycock overturned the myths that surround the First World War. Now he challenges our assumptions about the Second World War in this brilliant, caustic narrative that exposes just how close Britain came to losing. He reveals how Winston Churchill bears a heavy responsibility for the state of our forces in 1939, and how his interference in military operations caused a string of disasters. The reputations of some of our most famous generals are also overturned: above all, Montgomery, whose post-war stature owes more to his skill with a pen than talent for command. But this is not just a story of personalities. Gordon Corrigan investigates how the British, who had the biggest and best army in the world in 1918, managed to forget everything they had learned in just twenty years. The British invented the tank, but in 1940 it was the Germans who showed the world how to use them. After we avoided defeat, but the slimmest of margins, it was a very long haul to defeat Hitler's army, and one in which the Russians would ultimately bear the heaviest burden. This is a magnificent reassessment of Britain's War, from the policy decisions in the 1920s to the great battles and campaigns of 1939-45.