An engrossing account of how Britain became the base of operations for the exiled leaders of Europe in their desperate struggle to reclaim their continent from Hitler.When the Nazi blitzkrieg rolled over continental Europe in the early days of World War II, the city of London became a refuge for the governments and armed forces of six occupied nations - Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Norway, Czechoslovakia, and Poland - who escaped there to continue the fight. So, too, did General Charles de Gaulle, the self- appointed representative of free France. As the only European democracy still holding out against Hitler, Britain became known to occupied countries as 'Last Hope Island'.In this epic, character-driven narrative, acclaimed historian and New York Times-bestselling author Lynne Olson takes us back to those perilous days when the British and their European guests joined forces to combat the mightiest military force in history and restore order to a broken continent.PRAISE FOR LYNNE OLSON'This is Olson's fourth book dealing with Britain and World War II, but in Last Hope Island she argues an arresting new thesis: that the people of occupied Europe and the expatriate leaders did far more for their own liberation than historians and the public alike recognise. Books and films have dramatised individual stories of the resistance, but the scale of the organisation she describes is breathtaking Olson's histories have well honoured Britain's heroism. In Last Hope Island, she justifies her toast to the exiles and their compatriots.' The New York Times Book Review'Last Hope Island is a book to be welcomed, both for the past it recovers and also, quite simply, for being such a pleasant tome to read Certain of these refugee groups have had their stories told before but Olson's book is the first to weave this all together It's a well-written and well-illustrated book, and deeply researched.' The Washington Post
