FRIENDLY FIRE: THE SECRET WAR BETWEEN THE ALLIES

Friendly Fire explores the intrigue and treachery between - and within - the nations that were ostensibly allies during the Second World War. It demonstrates the extent to which the Allied war effort was driven by vested interests, primarily concerned with the balance of power in the post-war world rather than the defeat of Germany and Japan. These machinations prolonged the duration of the war by as much as two years and the end results were a Europe divided between East and West, and the onset of the Cold War. The theme of 'friendly fire' - casualties inflicted on one's own side - connects the various aspects of this book. The Allied leaders deliberately misled their own citizens about the real reasons they were fighting, resorting to dirty tricks and even assassination to protect their true agendas. As Friendly Fire reveals, every one of the wartime governments had its own guilty secret. Among the many revelations, we learn how, for its own economic ends, the Roosevelt administration actively encouraged the war between Britain and Germany, and how Anglo-American relations during the Second World War were characterised by suspicion, mistrust and a struggle for future supremacy. The authors detail how British agents tricked Hitler into declaring war on the US in order to bring America into the European conflict and how, under the guise of war aid, the US gave the USSR the means to establish itself as a world superpower - including, from 1943, the secrets of the atom bomb. Friendly Fire is based on extensive research undertaken on both sides of the Atlantic and contains information obtained from important archives and the testimonies of those individuals actively involved in the events. It relays the shocking truth about now-legendary figures - Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin - who actively shaped the destiny of countless millions, and details the real agenda behind the formation of the post-war world and the consequences for us all.