Alone: The Second World War Series, Book 2, by Sir Winston Churchill

This is the second volume in the audiobook version of the abridged World War II series by Winston Churchill.  It spans from Churchill's rise to Prime Minister in Britain and his formation of a government to the start of the German invasion of the USSR (Operation Barbarossa).  On the way it includes an account of the fall of France, the Battle of Britain, and the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern battles.

Until I listened to this audiobook, I did not realize how important the Middle Eastern and North African battles were to the British war effort, as they were determined to keep the Germans and Italians from taking control of the Mediterranean, the Suez canal, and the oil fields in the Middle East.

Churchill is in top form as a writer and storyteller, as in <i>Milestones to Disaster</i>. The main drawback to listening to this as an audiobook is that you don't have maps to reference as you probably would have in the book. I had to look up many of the towns on the Internet with whose location I was not familiar. Christian Rodska does an excellent job as reader.