A different view of the war and of Winston Churchill. Close up details of the planning behind the allied forces and the difficulties of working with committees.

This is volume one. Covers the first part of WW II up to the invasion of Italy in the fall of 1943. two volume set (The follow up is Triumph In The West). Arthur Bryant presents an annotated version of the war diaries that Alan Brooke who was the chief of the imperial general staff (CIGS) for most of the war, wrote at the actual time the events occurred. Brooke (later Lord Alanbrooke) interacted with Churchill throughout the war, so as a bonus you get some wonderful glimpses and anecdotes. Sometimes Brooke was grumpy and frustrated, but in the end you get a portrait of a highly intelligent and able man, who could hold all the strings together and became a major part of the allied victory.