Robin Prior is a professorial fellow at the University of Adelaide. He is the author or coauthor of six books on the two world wars, including The Somme, Passchendaele, Gallipoli and When Britain Saved the West.
“Robin Prior’s assessment of the workings, strengths, and
weaknesses of civil-military relationships and their impact on
military outcomes in both wars is trenchant and
challenging.”—William Philpott, Times Literary Supplement
“How Britain’s Armed Forces coped in two world wars is the subject
of Conquer We Must: A Military History of Britain, 1914–1945, by
Robin Prior, which exposes the constant tension, whether in
conflict or in peace, between politicians and service
chiefs.”—Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph, “Best History Books
2022”
“[A] tremendous, sweeping study of power in wartime.”—Allan
Allport, Literary Review
“[A] magisterial analysis of the Britain between 1914 and
1945.”—Robert Lyman, Aspects of History
“In sum, this is an enlightening, uplifting and altogether
magnificent book.”—Allan Mallinson, Country Life
“Intensively researched using both military and political archives,
it is revealing and thought-provoking.”—Choice
“A superb and highly readable account. . . . That Britain
ultimately made an effective and successful partnership between
politicians and soldiers, seen most explicitly in the personalities
of Churchill and Brooke, lies at the heart of this engaging book. .
. . I couldn’t put it down, and neither will you.”—Robert Lyman,
Aspects of History
“[Conquer We Must] is both interesting and important . . . an
informed contribution based on sound scholarship and interpretation
of the facts at hand.”—Christopher Harrison, Journal of Military
History
“Any book by Robin Prior is an event, and this is no exception.
Conquer We Must is a well-researched and trenchantly argued tour de
force. Historians of Britain’s military effort in the two world
wars will be busy debating his ideas for years to come.”—Gary
Sheffield, author of Forgotten Victory
“This is a gripping account of how relations between the military
and the politicians shaped the outcome of Britain’s two world wars,
revealing just how much the experience of 1914–18 informed
decision-making in 1939–45. Robin Prior provides incisive arguments
for what went wrong for the British and what, crucially, went right
and why.”—Heather Jones, author of For King and Country
“This book is the result of decades of research and writing on
Britain at war in the twentieth century. Authoritative and
insightful, a classic piece of military history by one of the
finest exponents of the genre.”—David G. Morgan-Owen, author of The
Fear of Invasion
“A very impressive and vivid piece of work which pulls together a
lifetime of scholarship by one of our finest military
historians.”—Jonathan Boff, author of Haig’s Enemy
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