List of Illustrations vii Maps ix Preface xiii PART I : Broad, Sunlit Uplands Prologue 3 PART 2 : False Summits 1 The Spirit of Quebec 47 September 1944 2 Setbacks 67 October-November 1944 3 Bad to Worse 94 November-December 1944 4 Battles of the Bulge 127 December 1944 January 1945 5 Awaiting the Big Three 161 January -February 1945 6 Yalta 189 February 1945 PART 3: Hollow Victories 7 Faltering and Altering 225 February-March 1945 8 Shadows of Death 259 March-April 1945 9 Justice? 293 May 1945 10 Peace, Politics and Potsdam 320 J une-July 1945 PART 4: The Liquidation of the British Empire 11 Hopes Betrayed 3 65 August-October 1945 , 12, The Costs of Victory 392 October 1945-April 1946 13 Sabotage? 425 April-November 1946 14 Scuttle? 464 December 1946-August 1947 Epilogue 505 Abbreviations 514 The Diarists 515 Bibliography 516 References 521 Acknowledgements 546 Index 549