Winston Churchill - The Wilderness Years: Speaking out Against Hitler in the Prelude to War - Softcover

'...written in crisp, hard prose, which has crisp hard-thinking behind it... A valuable addition to our crowded shelves of Churchilliana.' - Books and Bookman; '...much fresh information on the sources of Churchill's prophetic speeches.' - International Herald Tribune; '...a lucid and insightful distillation of Gilbert's detailed official biography. It is a welcome book, always addressed to the critical questions, and from the first wholly and unabashedly sympathetic to Churchill's position. This fine book reinforces what can be the only reasonable view of political life in Britain in the 1930s.' - Michael Heskett, Houston Chronicle; '...a timely study of how democracy allowed considerations of political convenience and budgetary "necessity" to control defence policy.' - George F. Will, Washington Post; 'Dealing with Churchill's years out of the government, when he was vigorously critical of its policy of inaction and appeasement, the book is a crisp, readable narrative for the general reader.' - Library Journal; 'The public owes a great debt to Martin Gilbert for producing this book... This more concise account of Churchill's long period out of office - 1929-39 - lacks nothing.' - Contemporary Review

In 1928, Winston Churchill was at the height of his career. Chancellor of the Exchequer and a powerful and popular orator, leadership of the Conservative Party seemed within his grasp. A year later, all had changed. The Conservatives were defeated and, when a National Government was formed in 1931, Churchill was not asked to join it. Though he was a lone figure from this point, his acute political sense, foresight and courage were undiminished. Fed with secret inside information, Churchill consistently warned of the Nazi danger, even before the rise of Hitler. The British government, led by Stanley Baldwin and later Neville Chamberlain, fought him at every turn, even refusing him the right to broadcast. But he never gave up. It was as a direct result of his dogged perseverance that the British public came to realise the truth of his warnings - and a bond was formed that would be so vital in the years to come.