Kindle edition: Maps and tables are reproduced too small and too blurry to use. The blurriness makes words illegible even with a magnifying glass: that is, words and numbers are not only too small, they are also blurred into completely unreadable spots of ink. This is a serious defect.
Also, Churchill quotes many letters, telegrams, speeches and so on. In the printed version, these quotes are separated from Churchill's regular text by whitespace. The Kindle edition whimsically starts a long quote in regular type, then prints subsequent paragraphs in italics, then returns to regular type when Churchill takes up the narrative again. This way of distinguishing the quote is confusing even when it works, and in (for example) one-paragraph letters it doesn't even work; the reader is confused when the narration starts up again, thinking he is still in a letter from Roosevelt to the Prime Minister.
If Kindle weren't a brand new technology there'd be nothing to do but return the book. As things stand, I hope for better later on -- and "better" that doesn't cost me another few hundred bucks.

Winston plods along with the hostilities in the Pacific theater such as they are. The British embarrassment of the fall of Singapore along with the loss of the Dutch East Indies send the signal that Great Britain is no longer the Empire of old. The American sea victories of the Coral Sea and Midway Island seems to solidify the proceedings in the Pacific Theater. The travel of Winston to Russia to pacify Stalin provides a period of calm for the Allies to proceed with their plans for the invasion of the European continent.
The essence of the Casablanca Conference was the terms of the Allies determination of "Unconditional Surrender". This ultimately led to the final brutal Battle of Berlin in May, 1945.
We are told of the siege of Stalingrad and the victory at Sea in the Atlantic Ocean by the British and American Navies. It was at this time that Mr. Churchill knew that the war would be won.
Winston tends to ramble to show his side of the proceedings. However I still give him 5 Stars. His research of course is first rate. However many passages were long and dragged out. He could have used more appendices.

As Hinge fo Fate opens in early 1942, The Japanese had just destroyed most of the American fleet at Pearl Harbor; Japan was about to drive Britain from Southeast Asia and (perhaps) invade Australia; German and Italian troops under Romel were about to invade Egypt, and Stalin's Russia was under attack by the German Army, which had completed itsoccupation of virtually all of Europe, from France to Norway, Lithuania to Greece. Parliament was calling for Churchill's head. This was a true world war (contrast, Bush's War on Terror)--and Britain was losing.

Churchill's reaction--the entry of America and Russia into the war as Britain's allies guaranteed that the Allies would ultimately win--Britain, US, and USSR simply had greater resources than Germany, Japan and Italy. Thus it was only a matter of time.

The attack by Parliament was a sign of a healthy, strong democracy--as Churchill said, how many countries had strong enough political institutions to allow this type of no holds barred debate while under attack, and still survive.

And survive they did. The first half of Hinge of Fate describes a series of worldwide disasters, unbroken by a single significant Allied victory. Then came the legendary battle of Alamein--where General Montgomery beat Rommel, the Allied landing on the north coast of Africa, the US Naval victories at Midway and in the Coral Sea, and Russia's effective resistance against the German Army at Stalingrad and in the Caucasus Mountains.

By the end of 1942, it was not yet clear that tha tAllies would win, but they looked a whole lot batter than they did at the beginning. Along the way, Churchill gives us his impressions of the politics involved--both internal British, within the larger Commonwealth, among the Allies--and particularly his relationship and struggles with Stalin--and the tension between the British (focused on Europe) and the Americans (pushing for more resources to fight the Japanese in the Pacific).

Hinge of Fate continues Churchill's inimitable style, mixing contemporaneous, detailed, memos, telegrams, letters, and directives he wrote, the responses he received, connected by new (in 1950) commentary by Churchill himself. This makes no pretesne at being an "objective" or multi-focused history of WWII. It is clearly, and exclusively, the war from Churchill's unique perspective. But, what a perspective!

Churchill's fourth book, `Hinge of Fate', covers the time period from January 1942 to June 1943. The Japanese, after Pearl Harbor, were advancing through the Malaya peninsula and onwards towards Singapore. With bold offensive strokes Hong Kong, Burma and Singapore were soon in Japanese hands. In the Atlantic, U-boats were taking high tolls in allied shipping and soon the British, Dutch and Americans were being run out of the Pacific. The gains in the African desert were soon lost as Rommel regain the offensive and retakes Benghazi. Churchill now faced censure at home and soon he needed to reorganize his Generals. Hitler was pushing forward on the Eastern front towards Stalingrad and many setbacks were shifting the balance.

This volume is well named as there is much offensive and defensive struggles going on in the Pacific theater, the African desert and the Eastern front. All three Allied countries were up to their necks in trouble, and the Axis forces still had the upper hand. It wasn't until Alamein, on the African coast that the hinge turned in favor of the Allies. Churchill states that "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat." Some of the most interesting parts of the book are Churchill's relationships with Stalin and FDR. Much has been written about these and it is nice to get Churchill's views and opinions about these men and the struggles they faced. Churchill acted, in many ways, the diplomat and statesman greasing the way between the Allied powers and paving the way for Torch (French North Africa), Bolero (Administrative preparations for invasion of France) and soon Overlord (France liberation 1944). Stalin wanted the Western front cross channel attack, of German held France in 1943 as planned, but because of the efforts on the African desert it wasn't until 1944 that Overlord was able to take place. Churchill needed great diplomacy and FDR's help to convince Stalin of the inability to make Overlord work in 1943.

It is great to read Churchill's rendition of this time and place. He was right in the middle, and at this time, still in command of the allied war effort. Well worth reading and adding to the history shelf.

Churchill's fourth book, `Hinge of Fate', covers the time period from January 1942 to June 1943. The Japanese, after Pearl Harbor, were advancing through the Malaya peninsula and onwards towards Singapore. With bold offensive strokes Hong Kong, Burma and Singapore were soon in Japanese hands. In the Atlantic, U-boats were taking high tolls in allied shipping and soon the British, Dutch and Americans were being run out of the Pacific. The gains in the African desert were soon lost as Rommel regain the offensive and retakes Benghazi. Churchill now faced censure at home and soon he needed to reorganize his Generals. Hitler was pushing forward on the Eastern front towards Stalingrad and many setbacks were shifting the balance.

This volume is well named as there is much offensive and defensive struggles going on in the Pacific theater, the African desert and the Eastern front. All three Allied countries were up to their necks in trouble, and the Axis forces still had the upper hand. It wasn't until Alamein, on the African coast that the hinge turned in favor of the Allies. Churchill states that "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat." Some of the most interesting parts of the book are Churchill's relationships with Stalin and FDR. Much has been written about these and it is nice to get Churchill's views and opinions about these men and the struggles they faced. Churchill acted, in many ways, the diplomat and statesman greasing the way between the Allied powers and paving the way for Torch (French North Africa), Bolero (Administrative preparations for invasion of France) and soon Overlord (France liberation 1944). Stalin wanted the Western front cross canal attack, of German held France, in 1943 as planned but because of the efforts on the African desert it wasn't until 1944 that the operation Overlord was able to take place. Churchill needed great diplomacy and FDR's help to convince Stalin of the inability to make Overlord work in 1943.

It is great to read Churchill's rendition of this time and place. He was right in the middle, and at this time, still in command of the allied war effort. Well worth reading and adding to the history shelf.

This is the longest book in Churchill's six volume history of the Second World War, and perhaps rightly so, as it concentrates on 1942, a year which saw the turning of the tide in the war. What started out as a continuation of a long catalogue of disasters ended up in real triumph. You can sense the relief that at last a long trial had started to pay dividends - what might have appeared a hopeless situation ended up with the certainty of victory.

By this fourth volume, you have come to accept the limitations of Churchill's account: whilst recognising the importance of the war in Russia, little space is devoted to it. The American setbacks in the Philippines are almost entirely missed. This is a very British history of the war. But in compensation, you get real gems, such as Churchill's candour about the lack of planning that lead up to the fall of Singapore; his fascinating descriptions of his meetings with Stalin; the problems of dealing with De Gaulle and the Vichy French; and the real difficulties faced by the British within their Empire (dealing with Gandhi and Congress in India, but also with an Australian government that realised its best route of survival lay with the USA rather than through ties to the mother country).

Here is a description of the most crucial year of the war, beautifully written, with real honesty.

G Rodgers

This is the longest book in Churchill's six volume history of the Second World War, and perhaps rightly so, as it concentrates on 1942, a year which saw the turning of the tide in the war. What started out as a continuation of a long catalogue of disasters ended up in real triumph. You can sense the relief that at last a long trial had started to pay dividends - what might have appeared a hopeless situation ended up with the certainty of victory.

By this fourth volume, you have come to accept the limitations of Churchill's account: whilst recognising the importance of the war in Russia, little space is devoted to it. The American setbacks in the Philippines are almost entirely missed. This is a very British history of the war. But in compensation, you get real gems, such as Churchill's candour about the lack of planning that lead up to the fall of Singapore; his fascinating descriptions of his meetings with Stalin; the problems of dealing with De Gaulle and the Vichy French; and the real difficulties faced by the British within their Empire (dealing with Gandhi and Congress in India, but also with an Australian government that realised its best route of survival lay with the USA rather than through ties to the mother country).

Here is a description of the most crucial year of the war, beautifully written, with real honesty.

G Rodgers