Masters and Commanders
How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941–1945
Andrew Roberts
For my wife, Susan
Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Part I
Enchantment
1 First Encounters: 1880–June 1940
2 Collecting Allies: June 1940–December 1941
3 Egos in Arcadia: December 1941–February 1942
4 Brooke and Marshall Establish Dominance: February–March 1942
5 Gymnast Falls, Bolero Retuned: February–April 1942
Part II
Engagement
6 Marshall’s Mission to London: April 1942
7 The Commanders at Argonaut: April–June 1942
Photographic Insert
8 The Masters at Argonaut: June 1942
9 Torch Reignited: July 1942
10 The Most Perilous Moment of the War: July–November 1942
11 The Mediterranean Garden Path: November 1942–January 1943
12 The Casablanca Conference: January 1943
13 The Hard Underbelly of Europe: January–June 1943
14 The Overlordship of Overlord: June–August 1943
Part III
Estrangement
15 From the St Lawrence to the Pyramids: August–November 1943
16 Eureka! at Teheran: November–December 1943
17 Anzio, Anvil and Culverin: December 1943–May 1944
18 D-Day and Dragoon: May–August 1944
19 Octagon and Tolstoy: August–December 1944
20 Autumn Mist: December 1944–February 1945
21 Yalta Requiem: February–May 1945
Conclusion: The Riddles of the War
Appendix A: The Major Wartime Conferences
Appendix B: Glossary of Codenames
Appendix C: The Selection of Codenames
Notes
Bibliography
Searchable Terms
About the Author
Other Books by Andrew Roberts
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
Sketch of Churchill by General Brooke on No. 10 writing paper, made during a War Cabinet meeting
in March 1942
List of Illustrations
Frontispiece: A sketch of Churchill by Alan Brooke (Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military
Archives, King’s College, London–Ref: Alanbrooke 6/4/1–5. Reproduced by kind permission of The
Viscount Alanbrooke)
Preface: A page from Lawrence Burgis’ account of the War Cabinet meeting of 10 December 1941
(Churchill Archives Centre, Papers of Laurence Burgis, BRGS 2/10, 10 December 1941)
1. The Masters and Commanders at the Casablanca Conference, January 1943 (reproduced by kind
permission of Mrs Joan Bright Astley)
2. Pershing and Marshall, 1919 (courtesy of the George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington,
Virginia)
3. Alan Brooke in the uniform of the Royal Horse Artillery, 1910 (Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre
for Military Archives, King’s College, London–Ref: Alanbrooke 13/1)
4. Churchill arriving at Downing Street, 15 May 1940 (Getty Images)
5. Roosevelt addressing Congress, 8 December 1941 (Getty Images)
6. Churchill and Roosevelt on board USS Augusta, 9 August 1941 (Topfoto)
7. Churchill and Roosevelt on board HMS Prince of Wales, 14 August 1941 (AP/PA Photos)
8. Marshall, Churchill and Henry L. Stimson, 24 June 1942 (Getty Images)
9. Alan Brooke’s lunch for Marshall at the Savoy Hotel, July 1942 (David E. Scherman/Time & Life
Pictures/Getty Images)
10. Harry Hopkins, Mark Clark, Roosevelt and Eisenhower in North Africa, 31 January 1943
(Bettmann/Corbis)
11. Eisenhower and Marshall in Algiers, 3 June 1943 (Corbis)
12. Churchill recuperating in Carthage, Christmas Day 1943 (Bettmann/Corbis)
13. Patton, Bradley and Montgomery in France (Corbis)
14. The Combined Chiefs of Staff at Casablanca, January 1943 (US Army Military History Institute)
15. Churchill, Eden and others at Allied HQ in North Africa, 8 June 1943 (Getty Images)
16. Combined Chiefs of Staff meeting at the First Quebec Conference, August 1943 (US Army
Military History Institute)
17. Second Quebec Conference, September 1944 (reproduced by kind permission of Mrs Joan Bright
Astley)
18. Churchill and Roosevelt at the Second Quebec Conference, September 1944 (reproduced by kind
permission of Mrs Joan Bright Astley)
19. John Dill, Andrew Cunningham, Alan Brooke, Charles Portal and Hastings Ismay at Quebec, 1944
(reproduced by kind permission of Mrs Joan Bright Astley)
20. British Joint Planning Staff, Second Quebec Conference, September 1944 (reproduced by kind
permission of Mrs Joan Bright Astley)
21. Allen Tupper Brown (courtesy of George Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia)
22. Alan Brooke and Barney Charlesworth, October 1941 (Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for
Military Archives, King’s College, London–Ref: Alanbrooke 13/3)
23. Churchill and Jan Smuts in Cairo, August 1942 (Bettmann/Corbis)
24. Hastings Ismay, 1942 (George Karger/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
25. Albert C. Wedemeyer with Marshall (George Lacks/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
26. Archibald Wavell and Joseph W. Stilwell, New Delhi (William Vandivert/Time & Life
Pictures/Getty Images
27. The British Chiefs of Staff, April 1945 (Jack Esten/Getty Images)
28. The US Joint Chiefs of Staff (Getty Images)
29. Lawrence Burgis and Leslie Hollis in the Cabinet War Rooms (from War at the Top by James
Leasor)
30. John Kennedy (photograph by Walter Stoneman. National Portrait Gallery, London)
31. Thomas Handy (Getty Images)
List of Maps
1. The North African Littoral
2. The Eastern Front
3. France and Germany
4. The Mediterranean Theatre
5. The Far East: Approaches to Japan
6. The Far East: The Pacific Route
7. The Far East: The Bay of Bengal Strategy
The North African Littoral
The Eastern Front
France and Germany
The Mediterranean Theatre