England faced one of its tensest ever periods in the summer of 1940. Much of Europe had fallen to Hitler, and it was believed that invasion by the Nazis was imminent. While Churchill was a popular figure as Prime Minister, there had been several difficult periods, not least the near-annihilation of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk and the loss of virtually all of their equipment. By rights, Britain should have been invaded and conquered as its neighbours were and German plans were drawn up for such an assault, codenamed Operation Sealion. And yet, standing alone against the German threat, it remained impregnable, and Operation Sealion never took place. Why was this?. In his immaculately researched and gripping work, Leo McKinstry paints a vivid picture of what was happening in England. After the outbreak of hostilities the previous year, an uneasy state of tension had existed, namely the so-called “Phoney War”, in which the country sat ready for action but nothing seemed to happen. All the while, Hitler planned his campaign...