Collapse

Fennell marshals a host of original insights and judgements in a narrative of terrific verve. A dismayingly high proportion of histories of almost everything, but especially the Second World War, tell us nothing we did not know already. This book is an exception. I learnt much from Fennell’s book and expect to learn more from his two volumes to come. Superb. – Max Hastings, Sunday Times
‘Collapse uses this prodigious, cutting-edge research to create a highly readable book … the personal stories offer vivid counterpoint to the political … [An] outstanding first volume’ – David Reynolds * New Statesman *
‘Original and thought-provoking … Collapse represents an ambitious and scholarly achievement … If the next two volumes are as accomplished as this one, Jonathan Fennell will have produced an indispensable account of the Second World War. ’ – Jonathan Boff * Literary Review *
’[A] weighty, admirably uncomfortable account [by] an impressively diligent and thoughtful young historian … This is a fascinating and important book, which brings together a mass of information … never before assembled under one roof.’ – Max Hastings on Fighting the People’s War * Sunday Times *
‘A richly documented, provocative and convincing study.’ – David French on Fighting the People’s War * The Times Literary Supplement *
‘This is an outstanding book, based on immersion in archives across the globe. Rich in insights, it demands that we rethink the way we view the armies of the British Empire in the Second World War.’ – Gary Sheffield, author of A Short History of the First World War, on Fighting the People’s War
‘This is a hugely impressive, sweepingly ambitious book which brings together the military histories of all the British Commonwealth nations for the first time. It asks vital questions about the relationship between wartime experience, society, and politics in a unique transnational way. A remarkable and valuable achievement.’ – Alan Allport, on Fighting the People’s War
‘An absolutely fascinating and fresh account of the Commonwealth armies at war … very well written and totally accessible. It contains a wealth of information that is fresh and new, and Fennell’s insights on subjects that many might imagine are familiar will be of real interest … Highly recommended.’ – Taylor Downing, on Fighting the People’s War * Military History Matters *
‘Jonathan Fennell’s astonishing book is full of compelling arguments that complete the puzzle of British, Commonwealth and Imperial victory in WW2. It’s quite fantastic and revealing … an incredible story. Absolutely recommend it.’ – Al Murray, on Fighting the People’s War
‘Jonathan Fennell has produced a compelling and magisterial history of the British and Commonwealth armies between 1939 and 1945 … Fighting the People’s War establishes Fennell as among the leaders of the next generation of Second World War scholars.’ – Jonathan Boff, on Fighting the People’s War * History Today *

Jonathan Fennell is Professor of the History of War and Society at King’s College London. He is Director of Research at the Defence Studies Department, Co-Director of the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War, and Co-Founder and President of the international scholarly society, the Second World War Research Group.

His most recent monograph, Fighting the People’s War: The British and Commonwealth Armies and the Second World War, won the Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History 2020 and the Society for Army Historical Research Templer Medal.

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