June 1940: France has fallen and Great Britain is the only nation left standing between Nazi Germany and total domination of Europe. Faced by the greatest possible crisis, Winston Churchill’s emergency coalition government must lead the way. In this illuminating and engrossing work, award-winning historian Jonathan Schneer draws on original research to disclose, for the first time, the inner machinations of Britain’s wartime government. Dispelling the popular myth that the War Cabinet constituted an unbreakable ‘band of brothers’, Schneer reveals that they were in fact a ‘team of rivals’, steeped in quarrels, power plays, unexpected alliances and intrigue. Beyond the war itself, Ministers at War traces how the prospect of peace saw this ensemble of political titans fall apart, ultimately paving the way for a unified, progressive government and the birth of the welfare state.

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