Britain at Bay cover art

Britain at Bay

The Epic Story of the Second World War: 1938-1941

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Britain at Bay

By: Alan Allport
Narrated by: James Langton
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

About this listen

WINNER OF THE HWA NON-FICTION CROWN

A TIMES AND SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Britain's wartime story has been told many times, but never as cleverly as this.' Dominic Sandbrook

In the bleak first half of the Second World War, Britain stood alone against the Axis forces. Isolated and outmanoeuvred, it seemed as though she might fall at any moment. Only an extraordinary effort of courage - by ordinary men and women - held the line. The Second World War is the defining experience of modern British history, a new Iliad for our own times. But, as Alan Allport reveals in this, the first part of a major new two-volume history, the real story was often very different from the myth that followed it. From the subtle moral calculus of appeasement to the febrile dusts of the Western Desert, Allport interrogates every aspect of the conflict - and exposes its echoes in our own age.

©2020 Alan Allport (P)2024 Penguin Random House LLC Military Military & War World War II War Imperialism Middle East Russia Interwar Period
All stars
Most relevant
Allport is a serious academic historian but unlike many of the others is also a superb writer. He challenges many of the myths and stereotypes of Britain in WW2. He does this by looking at contemporary records instead of memoirs written many years later. The best history book I’ve read this year. …and I read lots of them!

History writing at its best

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.