The end of the beginning

Description

Clayton and Craig’s work covers the pivotal period of May to November 1942. Focussing their narrative on north Africa, they nevertheless clarify the contribution Malta’s dogged resistance made to bringing about this first British victory of the war to date. Ranging widely, this history touches on the experience of an American soldier caught up in the raid on Dieppe, RAF bomber crews flying into Europe from British airfields, and a nurse working in appalling conditions in a hospital in Malta. More than a dozen individuals, many of which will inspire your emotional investment, have their stories stitched together to present this solid and comprehensive account of a wildly dynamic theatre of war. Fittingly, each one is eulogised in the book’s short epilogue.

Description

1942 - British troops are stranded in the desert, Hitler's armies have reached Moscow, and there are murmurs of discontent at home as new doubts emerge about Churchill's leadership. The authors use the personal testimony of ordinary people to tell the story of the war at a moment of great crisis. 1942-British troops are stranded in the desert, Hitler's armies have reached Moscow, and there are murmurs of discontent on the homefront. The authors use the personal testimony of ordinary people to debunk the myths and explore the realities of a crucial year in British history. "As British troops retreat in confusion before the Rommel's desert army, Egypt and the Suez Canal appear certain to fall. Nazi bombers blast Malta into rubble as its people near starvation. Hitler's armies sweep forward in Russia and his U-boats sink record numbers of Allied merchant ships. In Washington Britain's new allies are close to panic, while in London Members of Parliament call for Churchill to resign. And from occupied Europe comes the first evidence of Nazi death camps. The stakes could not be higher." "End of the Beginning continues the stories of some of the men and women first encountered in Finest Hour. Peter Vaux is now intelligence officer to the Desert Rats, Edith Heap is briefing RAF bomber crews, Ken Lee is fighting for his life in the skies above the desert. And new characters are introduced: Lonnie Dales, a sailor on a convoy battling through to Malta; Mimi Cortis, a nurse in one of the island's supply-starved hospitals; Dougie Waller, an anti-tank gunner facing Rommel's Panzers; Therese Steiner, a Jewish woman deported from Guernsey; Alex Szima, a US Ranger assaulting Dieppe."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

Genres

• Personal narratives, British

Other Editions

• The end of the beginningHodder & Stoughton2002-01-01
• End of the BeginningHodder Headline Audiobooks2002-01-01
• The End of the BeginningFree Press2003-01-01
• End of the BeginningHodder & Stoughton2003-01-01
• The End of the BeginningPaperbackFree Press2007-07-27
• End of the BeginningHodder & Stoughton2012-01-01