THE HINGE OF FATE marks in Sir Winston Churchill's words, 'the turning-point of the Second World War.' It details a period during which almost uninterrupted defeat gave way to almost unbroken success for the Allies.

While the Afrika Korps advanced almost to the outskirts of Alexandria and the Japanese struck by land and by sea, despair came to all but the most resolute. However, from this nadir there followed an ever-steady climb. Rommel was thrown back and defeated at Alamein. The British fought shoulder to shoulder for the first time with their American allies in North Africa and the tide turned in the Pacific.