Never Surrender

November 1, 2015

Kelly's (The Graves Are Walking; The Great Mortality) fastidiously researched narrative begins in 1919, when the British were coming to grips with mourning the dead of World War I, and concludes with Britain's heroic stand against the Nazis in the summer of 1940. His description of the major events of the interwar era--the Great Depression, the rise of fascism, and the desperate diplomacy to avoid war in 1939--flows smoothly despite reams of detail. The author successfully balances the big picture with stories of persons who range from Count Ciano, the foreign minister of Italy to a British soldier waiting to be evacuated from Dunkirk. VERDICT This narrative provides a valuable corrective to popular histories that ignore or downplay those in the British Parliament, and the population, who campaigned for a compromise peace with Germany in the spring and summer of 1940; Churchill's victory was in no way inevitable. Unfortunately, the book's thesis seems to be contained in its title, and as such the reader might not recognize what Kelly is trying to accomplish until halfway through. Despite this, the title is recommended for public libraries.--Frederic Krome, Univ. of Cincinnati Clermont Coll.

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