Churchill's Phoney War

A Study in Folly and Frustration

Hardcover | 30 November 2019

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Given the dearth of scholarship on the Phoney War, this book examines the early months of World War II, when Winston Churchill's ability to lead Britain in the fight against the Nazis was being tested.

Graham T. Clews explores how Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, proposed to fight this new world war, with particular attention given to his attempts to impel the Royal Navy, the British War Cabinet, and the French, toward a more aggressive prosecution of the conflict. This is no mere retelling of events, but a deep analysis of the decision-making process and Churchill's unique involvement in it. This book shares extensive new insights into well-trodden territory and original analysis of the unexplored, with each chapter offering material which challenges conventional wisdom. Clews reassesses several important issues of the Phoney War period including:

Churchill's involvement in the anti-U-boat campaign
Churchill's contribution to the failures of the Norwegian Campaign
His attitude to Britain's aerial bombing campaign and the notion of his unfettered "bulldog" spirit
His relationship with Neville Chamberlain; and his succession to the premiership

A man of considerable strengths and many shortcomings, the Churchill that emerges in Clews' portrayal is dynamic and complicated. Churchill's Phoney War adds a well-balanced and much-needed history of the Phoney War while scrupulously examining Churchill's successes and failures.

Industry Reviews

An important account of a crucial period in world history." -Jeremy Black is author of Rethinking World War Two

"This is a meticulously researched and important new look at the early months of the Second World War in Europe and Winston Churchill's part in British decision making. The record is set straight and much new light shed on the positive relationship of Churchill and Prime Minister Chamberlain and the true dynamics of the First Lord's rise to the premiership." -Professor Eric Grove, Visiting Fellow, International Institute for Strategic Studies

"This is an excellent book that significantly advances our understanding of Winston Churchill as a naval strategist and the role he played in British planning at the start of the Second World War. Through a forensic examination of official documents and correspondence, Graham Clews overturns existing orthodoxies about Churchill's performance at the Admiralty in 1939-40. A genuinely novel and impressive book, Churchill's Phoney War should be read not just by those with an interest in Churchill and the Second World War at sea, but also by anyone who wants to learn more about the complex business of how strategy is formulated and implemented - and how strategic choices and high politics intersect with decisive effect." -Daniel Todman, Professor of Modern History, Queen Mary University of London, Britain's War: Into Battle, 1937-1941

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