Book Review: Five Days in London, May 1940 by John Lukacs

Title.            Five Days in London

                    May 1940

Author.        John Lukacs 

It doesn't matter how you can come by a book, but this one was different and us different. We were in Salamanca for two days and found a second-hand book shop with an English section.  Within ten minutes we had bought six books at a ridiculous cost of 12€.

Michelle saw the book and handed it to me. I realized the significance of the title and read the two page preface. I was hooked and it felt so good in my hand.

John Lukacs was professor of history at Chesnut Hill College, Philadelphia and has been a European historian of many books including those on Adolf Hitler. I found these five days and his telling of it compelling, not only because I understand the importance of that time in our history, but because it is our history and in consequence of that, how we can lead our lives freely to this day.

I quote: “The days from May 24 to May 28, 1940, altered the course of the history of this century, as members of the British War Cabinet debated whether to negotiate with or continue the war against Hitler. The decisive importance of these five days is the focus of John Lukacs’s magisterial new book”.

Anyone considers that Sir Winston Churchill’s journey to become the Prime Minister of Britain to be easy and untroubled does need to read that period. He had made his views clear on Germany’s rise under Hitler where he was a lone voice standing against the appeasers and the elements of Fascism within Britain. 

Lukacs also investigated the mood of the British people, drawing on newspaper and Mass Observation reports that show how the citizenry, though only partly informed about the dangers that faced them, nevertheless began to support Churchill’s determination to stand fast.

I can liken his battle to succeed in his views as a war he had to win within the cabinet with the same determination he continually showed during World War Two.

It was not an easy read as there is so much detail with many footnotes. It is a complete view of what was going on not just in London, but also deals with Roosevelt’s determination not to become involved until he was sure that Churchill intended to fight on regardless. And then he loaned us 50 Battle Ships. The rest is history!