Last Hope Island: Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War

by Lynne Olson

An engrossing account of how Britain became the base of operations for the exiled leaders of Europe in their desperate struggle to reclaim their continent from Hitler.

When the Nazi blitzkrieg rolled over continental Europe in the early days of World War II, the city of London became a refuge for the governments and armed forces of six occupied nations — Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Norway, Czechoslovakia, and Poland — who escaped there to continue the fight. So, too, did General Charles de Gaulle, the self- appointed representative of free France. As the only European democracy still holding out against Hitler, Britain became known to occupied countries as ‘Last Hope Island’.

In this epic, character-driven narrative, acclaimed historian and New York Times–bestselling author Lynne Olson takes us back to those perilous days when the British and their European guests joined forces to combat the mightiest military force in history and restore order to a broken continent.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, War, Historical, Military Fiction, British Literature

576 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2017

About the author

Lynne Olson is a New York Times bestselling author of ten books of history, most of which focus on World War II. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has called her "our era's foremost chronicler of World War II politics and diplomacy."
Lynne’s latest book, The Sisterhood of Ravensbruck: How an Intrepid Band of Frenchwomen Resisted the Nazis In Hitler’s All-Female Concentration Camp, will be published by Random House on June 3,2025. Three of her previous books — Madame Fourcade's Secret War, Those Angry Days, and Citizens of London were New York Times bestsellers.
Born in Hawaii, Lynne graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arizona. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a journalist for ten years, first with the Associated Press as a national feature writer in New York, a foreign correspondent in AP's Moscow bureau, and a political reporter in Washington. She left the AP to join the Washington bureau of the Baltimore Sun, where she covered national politics and eventually the White House.
Lynne lives in Washington, DC with her husband, Stanley Cloud, with whom she co-authored two books. Visit Lynne Olson at http://lynneolson.com.

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book very much, and so I give it four stars.

We’ve all read umpteen books on the Second World War, fiction as well as non-fiction. This book still gave me information I hadn´t been aware of before. It focuses on the nations of Western Europe which were occupied by Germany. By 1940, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland were occupied. Welcomed by Churchill, the leaders of these countries found a home in Britain; Britain became the seat of the exile governments. De Gaulle, France’s Under Secretary of War, came to lead the French government in exile and emerged as the undisputed leader of the French resistance rallying forces against the Vichy Regime and the Germans in the Occupied Zone. We observe as he grows in stature and importance. Churchill welcomed the leaders because he needed their support. Then the US and Russia joined the scene and the balance of power shifted. To what extent did nations help each other, prioritize their own needs and use the others as scapegoats?

What is particularly interesting is what we learn about the leaders in exile, how they saw the events and what they tried to do. Personal details and small but telling stories illustrate their efforts, how they felt and suffered with their people, separated by distance but not in heart. We return to each one over and over again; by the book’s end we are able to identify with each one’s respective situation.

For me the sections concerning Queen Vilhelmina of Holland are particularly moving. In exile, she freed herself from the caged prison of royalty and developed a strong comradeship with her people. The Norwegians love for King Haakon is shown too. We learn of the rivalry and competition between the British MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6) and SOE (Special Operations Executive). We follow the rescue of downed RAF pilots. The stories are both exciting and moving. We learn of those who betrayed as well as those who helped. Battles are infused with details that allow a reader to empathize and to care. We learn of the unsuccessful military operation Market Garden fought in September 1944 in the Netherlands. A German guard dog barking, a 34th birthday celebration where the British National Anthem is played on an organ, a mild unassuming woman daring to weave her way through German officers to mail letters. And Queen Wilhelmina again - she was served steak. She asks if all the Dutch were eating steak that day. Of course they weren’t, and so she refused to partake of such a meal. Little is spoken of the starvation in Holland. 20 000 died of starvation. We learn of the RAF missions to save lives; in Operation Manna 8 000 tons of food were dropped in the still-unliberated western parts of Holland. At the same time, efforts to eliminate collateral damage caused by Allied forces were shockingly insufficient. I am giving you here a smattering of stories that are sure to draw you. They turn history that can be dry and boring into events that engage.

Too much of what the Poles did to bring about victory has been forgotten and even incorrectly presented. That is not so here. The Polish pilots were valiant heroes of the Battle of Britain. They were responsible for the decoding of the Germans’ Enigma machines, and yet the future of Poland was disastrously decided at the Yalta Conference of 1945. Fear of communism and the need to sacrifice the interests of smaller nations to the wishes of stronger nations prevailed.

On this note, the book concludes, as it should, with a short summary of how the cooperation between European countries developed into the European Coal and Steel Community, then the European Economic Community and finally the European Union. In an effort to unite European nations into a body with power and strength.

I appreciated that the author speaks of both the failures and the successes of the powerful nations and the small. There is little about Luxemburg though.

Was it wise for the European leaders to go into exile, to leave their people alone to suffer under the yoke of German occupation? King Leopold III of Belgium did not go into exile. He chose to remain with his people. The result? For four years he was imprisoned within the Laeken Palace in Brussels, unable to have any contact with his people. Finally, he was deported to Strobi, near Salzburg, for the last year of the war. During the war, both his enforced silence and his marriage to a woman of Flemish origin, and then after the war the political strife between the Flemish and the Wallonian people did not make him popular. By many Belgians he was viewed as a collaborator. In 1951 he was forced to abdicate to his son.

The audiobook is read by Arthur Morey. It is a difficult book to narrate; it demands fluency in several languages. Someone with at least a better knowledge of French and German would certainly have been more appropriate. Pronunciation was so poor that at times I had difficulty identifying which city the author was referring to. At these points, his narration annoyed me. At other times when my mood was lighter, his lousy French had me laughing. Still, he does read at a good speed, and his English is easy to follow. I am giving the narration two stars. No, it was not terrible, but merely OK.

There is so much in this book that is interesting. I simply cannot do it justice.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a big fan of Lynne Olson’s books for a long time and was delighted to receive a review copy of her latest. Subtitled, “Britain’s Brotherhood with Occupied Europe and the Unsung Heroes who Turned the Tide of War,” this is a very relevant read at the moment when the idea of a United Europe after WWII seems to be suffering various cracks and fissures. Indeed, as Olson points out, Britain has spent much of its history trying to stay apart from Europe. However, in June 1940, London – to its shock – found itself the de facto capital of Europe, as King George VI and Winston Churchill welcomed kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers, fleeing occupied Europe.

London became a haven from those from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg, and as Winston Churchill embraced General Charles de Gaulle as the exiled leader of France. With British resistance a beacon of hope, the BBC (recently derided by the new President of the United States) became furtively listened to across the whole of occupied Europe, as the source of trusted news and a source of information to European resistance.

The beginning of this book tells the story of how those exiled leaders arrived in London. Many were unwilling to leave their countries, but, faced with no alternative, found themselves arriving on English shores to escape capture by the Germans. Among them was King Haakon VII of Norway, who Hitler had demanded be tracked down and killed. In a typically British anecdote, he demanded to know of King George, exactly what security measures had been put in place to protect the royal family and George assured him airily that he had an alarm buzzer which would be pressed to call for help. Pushed to put this into action, King George reluctantly activated the buzzer and, predictably, nothing happened… While George found the whole episode humorous, King Haakon demanded that action be taken.

This, then, is the story of how England welcomed exiled leaders to its shores; along with troops from Europe and also many distinguished scientists, engineers and nuclear physicists. Charles Henry George Howard, also known as Lord Suffolk, was personally responsible for spiriting away not only two eminent nuclear physicists from occupied Europe, but also the ‘heavy water’ used in the nuclear process and essential – not only for research purposes – but also to keep this incredibly important material out of German hands. It is also the story of how European troops re-grouped to fight for the Allies; including the brave Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain.

This is not only a positive account of wartime London though; however exciting and vibrant the city had become, with an influx of new people. It highlights how the Germans looked up to the British secret service, which, in fact, was underfinanced, understaffed and infiltrated by enemy agents, including Kim Philby. Of factions, feuds, infighting, the shock of exile, of being treated as ‘poor relations’ and of the rivalry between the SOE and M16. Lynne Olson takes us through the war and on to the planned liberation of Europe, how collaborators were dealt with and the Soviet threat. It also highlights Britain’s relationship with Europe; which remains tempestuous and difficult. This is an excellent, informative and extremely interesting read. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

[Mikey B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author outlines the lives both of Londoners and the newcomers from Europe, who fled the Nazi onslaught during (and even before) the war years of 1939-45.

I took a tour of the Normandy beaches some years back and the tour guide enthralled us with the individual stories of both soldiers and citizens of that unforgettable June of 1944. This is the case as well with this book of Lynne Olson. The most engaging parts of this book are the personal narratives of those in London and their many contacts in Europe. Its’ the individuals and their collective spirit for the cause of their long struggle for liberation from Nazi occupation that make for several memorable passages.

Page 302 (my book)

In Belgium, a woman who had spent more than three years in a German concentration camp for aiding the escape of downed Allied fliers observed more than fifty years later that she never regretted the heavy price that she and other members of the Belgian resistance paid for helping the Allied cause. “The airmen who come for reunions feel they can’t thank us enough,” she said. “We say if it wasn’t for the English, we might be German now.”

This book focuses on the relations of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland (Greece and Yugoslavia were not discussed). I learnt that Polish airmen made a very significant contribution to the Battle of Britain in 1940.

The British spy networks (MI6 for gathering information and SOE for special operations) were not only in competition with each other, but were largely incompetent and responsible for the imprisonment and deaths of not only their colleagues but of resistance fighters in occupied Europe. This started to change in 1943 when they started to listen and learn from the various resistance and underground groups spread across Europe. The author also discusses British xenophobia and the superiority that this Island people felt towards those on the continent. This improved during the war years as each came to understand and empathize and work together for the common cause. Winston Churchill was also instrumental in breaking down this xenophobia.

Page 120

When war broke out, the BBC’s foreign operation was still relatively small, with broadcasts in only seven languages. In just a few months, it exploded to forty-five languages, half of them beamed to Europe.


The BBC broadcasts to Europe were a godsend to all. They were eagerly looked forward to even though the penalty for listening could be very severe, such as being sent to a concentration camp.

I was surprised to learn of the vast network of the European resistance, often done by women, to move downed airplane personnel over the Pyrenees to Spain, where they could then make their way back to England – and fight another day.

I felt this book going off course when the author brought up Poland and its annexation by the Soviet Union. There is a subtitle to chapter 26 called “The West Turns Its Back on Poland and Czechoslovakia”. This is not true. The sub-title should be something along the lines that Stalin’s ruthlessness gobbled up Eastern Europe and ignored the agreements made at Yalta. The Western Allies, meaning the United States and Great Britain were hardly in a position to fight the Soviet Union after liberating Western Europe. Everyone wanted the war to end. Poland due to geography, Stalin and the millions of Red Army troops in Eastern Europe, paid a heavy price.

The author was obsessed with what she felt Churchill could or should have done for Poland, and I feel she overlooked factual realities. Churchill had so many demands straining over him from so many – Roosevelt, the incessant de Gaulle, Stalin’s bellicosity, V1 and V2 rockets raining over London, plus the entire European and Pacific war, that Poland was only one item on his vast list. Stalin’s vast armies were killing many more Germans than the Western allies; Churchill and Roosevelt could not ignore that.

On page 434 she states “the Polish II Corps [of the British Eight Army] … captured Monte Cassino in May 1944”. Many army units including British, U.S., Canadian, and New Zealand troops played a role in the battle of Monte Cassino.

But it is the “on the ground view” that provides the reader with strong emotional content. It gives us a very human picture of how those in both London and their contacts in Western Europe toiled through the long war years.

[Jill Hutchinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could go into paroxysms of praise over this book but will contain myself to a short review. I have become a huge Lynne Olson fan after reading two of her other books and this one lived up to my expectations.

Britain was standing alone against Hitler's armies and I expected that this book would be specific to the courage and grit of the British people. But Olson took another tack and instead told the story of the leaders and people of the countries being overrun by the Nazis (France, Poland, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and even tiny Lichtenstein) and their escape to London to continue their fight and organize underground resistance to take back their lands. Kings, queens, parliaments, soldiers and pilots fled to the "last hope island" to add their resources (which were often very scarce) to those of Britain. The Free French under DeGaulle originated here, the Polish fighter pilots joined the RAF and were instrumental in winning the air battle of Britain, the Enigma code was broken by two Polish scientists (although they got little credit) and the Norwegian and Dutch undergrounds became viable in passing on valuable information about Nazi plans.

This book will make you joyful, sad, and sometimes very angry as we follow the political machinations of the Allies which often negated the efforts of the occupied countries and their exiled leaders. This is a must read for WWII buffs and I highly recommend it.

[joyce g · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intense and powerful book containing A plethora of detail. I have always thought I knew a bit about WW2 history, this read added so much to the, I didn't know that category. A must read for those who want more and then more facts. Thank you author Lynn Olson and Random House for providing me with this special opportunity to read this wonderful book.

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely marvelous but troubling view of WWII from the perspective of the smaller occupied countries who contributed to the war effort and whose interests were generally ignored by Churchill and even more so by FDR.

The worst of these cases was Poland, which made enormous contributions (solving Enigma, pilots staving off Hitler's attack on London, intelligence vital to D-Day, and delaying the V1/V2 rockets) and was then given to Stalin. I have always revered Churchill, but Olson puts that in jeopardy. Here are some excerpts ...

... only days before Germany invaded Poland, the Poles sent replicas of Enigma to Britain and France, along with detailed information on how to use it.

... Having lost nearly a hundred pilots in the previous week, the RAF finally gave in and ordered the squadron into battle the next day. 303 Squadron finally got its orders to fly. Shortly after taking off, the Poles hurtled down on the surprised enemy like avenging furies. In less than fifteen minutes, six of them had each shot down a Messerschmitt in the skies over south London. While the squadron would go on to compile a brilliant overall record in the Battle of Britain, it is doubtful that its contribution was ever more urgently needed than on its first day of combat. For it was on August 31 that Fighter Command suffered its heaviest losses of the entire battle—thirty-nine fighters shot down and fourteen pilots killed. The Germans, however, lost an identical number, with 303’s pilots credited with 15 percent of those kills

... it was the Poles who provided the lion’s share of British intelligence during the war

... As D-Day approached ... Everywhere on the country’s coasts, it seemed, intelligence agents from occupied Europe were penetrating top secret enemy bases and stealing fortification blueprints and other material that the Allied planners of D-Day had asked them to gather. ... “practically all the Allied war plans for the invasion of Europe are based on information about the conquered territory supplied by underground intelligence systems. ... most of it came from French and Polish operatives.

... Poland … like the rest of eastern Europe, was treated by Roosevelt and Churchill “as something secondary, not as a vital interest of their own.”

... as much as he valued the Poles’ help, Churchill was unable to see the Soviet-Polish conflict through Polish eyes. The Soviets were now Britain’s valued allies, and he was determined to make Poland acknowledge them as such.

... To Churchill, it was clear that the Russian leader’s acquisition of Polish territory would involve “the forcible transfer of large populations against their will into the Communist sphere.” By agreeing to this, he acknowledged in 1942, Britain would turn its back on fundamental principles of freedom that were the supposed bedrock of the Allied cause. In private, he agonized over the decision. He was genuinely concerned about Poland’s fate but would take no action on its behalf. ... the British were not prepared to risk their alliance with the Soviet Union for the sake of the Poles.

... The Soviets’ treatment of the Poles under their control was nearly as brutal as Germany’s: During the twenty-one months that the Soviets dominated eastern Poland, an estimated 1.5 million Polish citizens were taken from their homes and deported in freight trains to Siberia and other Soviet regions. Thousands froze to death along the way or died of starvation and disease. Those who survived ended up in slave labor camps or were dumped onto collective farms. Most were never seen again.

[Antigone · Rating 5 out of 5]

April, 1940: Hitler has launched his invasion of Norway and its king, Haakon VII, has woken up with a price on his head. Spirited out of Oslo as Luftwaffe bombers streaked across the skies, he tries to remain in-country but there is, as it turns out, no place to hide. Aware of his value as a symbol, he determines he would rather represent resistance than submission to this vile aggressor and that will require evading capture at all cost. He is soon on a ship to London.

May, 1940: Hitler has launched his invasion of Holland and its queen, Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, is not at all surprised. She'd been warning her government about this for quite some time. Those woefully over-confident men are about to face a rather harsh come-uppance. Confronting the same symbolic choice as Haakon, she darts from location to location until, with great resignation, she boards the British destroyer HMS Hereford, bound for Great Britain.

May, 1940: Hitler has launched his invasion of Belgium, stormed through the Ardennes Forest (thereby circumventing the barrier of the Maginot Line), and marched straight into France. King Leopold III of Belgium, as commander-in-chief of the Belgian army, makes the fateful decision to remain in his country - where he is confined to a palace and relative (reviled) impotence for the duration of the war. Charles de Gaulle, however, a junior brigadier general at that instant, flew from France to England on June 17...and hit the ground running. His resistance headquarters was established in about a minute and a half.

The governments and selected armed forces of seven nations in all took refuge on what they came to call "Last Hope Island." Here they would build underground networks, develop supply lines, coordinate military strategy and support. Here they would speak through the radio airwaves; imparting coded communiques, reliable news reports, and no small portion of patriotic faith. Here they would try, and fail, and try once more to be heard by the larger Allied powers; to be recognized and respected; to have their countries included as objectives in the plotting of this World War.

Lynne Olson lifts this history from its common relegation to footnote and draws it, quite magnificently, to a well-deserved center stage. The work reads like an espionage thriller - gripping, informative, and chockfull of characters that won't soon be forgotten. The writing is crisp, the perspective remarkably even-handed. You'll find heroism, to be sure, but also cowardice; brilliance and incompetence; phenomenal compassion and an equally phenomenal amount of heartlessness by those from whom one had every right to expect...well, a good deal more.

An excellent addition to the field of World War II writings, and modern history as a whole. Thoroughly recommended.

[Gail Baugniet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lynne Olson gives an excellent narrative of ongoing battles, writing more in the style of of a historical thriller and offering an intriguing look at the timeline of WWII. The book contains details never before presented about one of my ancestral homelands, Belgium. It gives praise long overdue for the Polish contributions throughout the war that guaranteed a successful outcome for Europe. Sadly, to the detriment of its own country and people.

The publication date for Last Hope Island is slated for April 25, 2017. It may take me that long to appreciate all the information offered by author Lynne Olson. Her writing style makes every detail interesting and thought-provoking, as though I had never read a history of wars before.

Aside from finding the book fascinating for its content, I gained a greater acceptance of current world affairs.

Won this ARC in a Goodreads Giveaway. Its page count is 523. I am donating it to my favorite library for others to benefit from Lynne Olson's extensive research and understanding of WWII.

[Cold War Conversations Podcast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and entertaining account of Britain's assistance to the occupied European nations of World War 2

This is my first Lynne Olson book and I was very impressed how the disparate stories of the various nations were covered in some detail without becoming tedious to read.

There's a number of amusing anecdotes along the way and some great insight into the tensions and viewpoints of the complex personalities involved.

Well worth a read.

Many thanks to netgalley for the review copy.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm swimming against the tide of praise here, so I think brevity will serve better than prolixity.

The bill of goods I was sold was that this book would tell the story about how other European nations relied on Britain to survive the German onslaught. What I got was a series of anecdotes only loosely tied together by the book's ostensible theme.

Some fascinating tales well told? Sure. But as a cobbled together collection of short stories, it did not have enough substance to hold my attention.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Made me think about about WWII Britain in an entirely new way.

[Steven Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

England has had a long and tortured history as she related to the European continent – always asking the question: should we become involved or not? We can see it after World War II and the developing Common Market, and of course with the recent Brexit vote. The dark days during the spring of 1940 when the Nazis rolled over France and the Low countries presented the problem anew, but this time after sitting back in the late 1930s allowing Hitler carte blanche it decided to support a “community of nations” as London was made available as a sanctuary for governments overrun by the Nazis. London would become the home for the exiled governments of Poland, Norway, France, Belgium, Holland, and Czechoslovakia. These governments would band together with England to defeat Nazism and lay the basis for European cooperation after the war. One of Olson’s major themes rests with the exile communities. She affirms without the exiles work as pilots, mathematicians, intelligence operators, scientists, physicists, and soldiers who knows how the war might have turned out. Today, with the European Union under attack on the continent by certain right wing parties it is useful to explore Lynne Olson’s latest work dealing with World War II entitled, LAST HOPE ISLAND: BRITAIN, OCCUPIED EUROPE AND THE BROTHERHOOD THAT HELPED TURN THE TIDE OF WAR.

Olson covers a great deal of material in her book, much is new, but some of it has appeared in past books. For example, the chapter dealing with the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz has a similar narrative that appears in A QUESTION OF HONOR: THE KOSCIUSZKO SQUADRON: THE FORGOTTEN HEROES OF WORLD WAR II as she writes about Squadron 303 made up of Polish airmen who accomplished remarkable things at a time of England’s greatest need. Other examples can be found in TROUBLESOME YOUNG MEN: THE REBELS WHO BROUGHT CHURCHILL TO POWER AND HELPED SAVE ENGLAND and CITIZENS OF LONDON: THE AMERICANS WHO STOOD WITH BRITAIN IN ITS DARKEST, FINEST HOUR. The integration of past research enhances her current effort particularly when she writes about the early part of the war. To her credit she has an amazing knowledge of the leading secondary works and historians dealing with her topic which just enhances the narrative.

Olson employs a wonderful wit as part of her approach to writing. For example she quotes the novelist and former MI6 member, John le Carre as he noted how devoted MI6 had been to “the conspiracies of self-protection, of using the skirts of official secrecy in order to protect incompetence, of gross class privilege, of amazing credulity,” then remarks that “the years immediately preceding the war MI6, as it happened, had a considerable amount of incompetence to protect.”

The author breaks the narrative into two separate parts. The first being the prewar period through the end of 1941 as the Germans rolled through France and the Low countries and we find a number of governments in exile stationed in London. In that section of the book Olson successfully narrates the relationship of these governments in exile first with the Chamberlain government, then that of Churchill. She explores the important personalities that include King Haakon of Norway, Queen Wilhelmina of Holland, Charles de Gaulle of the Free French, and Edvard Benes of Czechoslovakia. The problems of each are explained as well as how the British responded to their needs. Olson accurately points out the humiliation and frustration experienced by Benes who was forced not to fight during the Munich conference, then was pilloried for not fighting when Hitler seized Czechoslovakia in March, 1939. Further she explores the difficult relationship between the British and the French particularly during the evacuation from Dunkirk, as well as with de Gaulle once France fell. For the British de Gaulle could be described as the self-appointed French leader who exhibited “extreme weakness that required extreme intransigence.” King Haakon and Queen Wilhelmina got along much better with the British as each had merchant marine fleets that English needed, as well as natural resources. Olson points out the complexity of the relationship with the Polish government in exile. Of all these governments it was the Poles who fought, wanted to continue to fight, and developed the Home Army to do so. They made tremendous contributions as pilots, intelligence sources, and creating a resistance against Nazi Germany.

Olson does a commendable job explaining the incompetence of the British and French military leadership who instead of accepting responsibility for events that led to Dunkirk used Belgium as their scapegoat for their own failures and defeat. Showering King Leopold as a “Quisling” was blasphemy for the king whose army fought as well as possible based on the resources at his command, and further, refused to surrender to the Germans. Olson also argues that the myth that the French just gave up was unfair based on the lack of support the British provided as the Germans goose-stepped into Paris.

The importance of the BBC is given its own chapter which is important because the radio broadcasts had an important role to play. First, it allowed exiled leaders the opportunity to broadcast their own message to their people. Second, it provided the various resistance movements accurate information as to the course of the war. Third, they broadcasted in over forty languages. Lastly, it gave hope to demoralized population, particularly in France as they told the truth.

By December 1941 the governments in exile came to the realization that with the entrance of the United States and the Soviet Union the entire diplomatic formula was dramatically altered. With the Americans and Russians now in the war, their early closeness with Great Britain was about to give way to power politics, and perhaps a European Union might be in the offering. From this point on Olson’s focus begins to change.

Olson spends a great deal of time taking apart the reputations of British MI6 and their Special Operations Executive. She delves into the lack of competence exhibited by MI6 head Stewart Menzies and his battle with SOE leadership whose task was to foment sabotage, subversion and resistance in Europe. In chapters dealing with Holland and France, Olson points out the errors that SOE leaders engaged in including a lack of security and simplistic coding, and foolish field decisions involving their agents. London’s poor decision making would prove disastrous for Dutch agents who were easily rounded up by the Germans as they parachuted into Holland. Olson is meticulous as she undermines the myth of the excellence of British secret services and the negative impact on events in Holland and France. Two men stand out in her narrative, Leo Marks and Frances Cammaerts who were “passionate, skeptical, and [possessed] fiercely independent traits unappreciated by the SOE brass.” The problem was this weak intelligence infrastructure created issues for the French resistance that was to play a major role in D Day planning and the early stages of the invasion as many suffered horrendous death at the hands of the SS. Further complicating things was the split between the French resistance and de Gaulle, and the British and de Gaulle. In both cases endangering the overall invasion.

Olson is at her best when she integrates stories about certain figures who seem to be on the periphery of the main narrative, but are involved in important actions. For example Andree de Vongh, an independent woman who decided to ignore SOE objections and developed the “Comet Line” an escape route for British airmen and paratroopers that began in Brussels, snaked its way through France, and crossed the Pyrenees into Spain. She organized safe houses along the route and when MI9 refused to give her funds she raised them on her own. She personally escorted 118 servicemen to freedom out of 7000 total for all networks during the war. If reading about de Vongh is not interesting enough, Audrey Kathleen Ruston, a thirteen year old aspiring dancer and Dutch resistance member emerges, a.k.a Audrey Hepburn.

One of the major debates that historians seem to engage in is how valuable were resistance movements in winning the war. Though some argue not as much as one might think, Olson makes the case throughout that they were very consequential. The Poles in particular who contributed to breaking the Enigma code and intelligence collected by their spies throughout Europe were of great importance to the Allied victory. The Poles who seemed to have given so much received very little as the war wound to a close, and in the postwar world. It was unfortunate that they became pawns between Stalin’s strategic view of Soviet national security in Eastern Europe, and Roosevelt’s desire not to upset the Russian dictator whose army suffered an inordinate number of casualties compared to England and the United States. When Polish exile leaders appealed to Churchill, no matter what the English Prime Minister believed, he could do little to convince his allies to assist the Poles as the Nazis were about to destroy what remained of Warsaw in May, 1944. As far as the French are concerned General Eisenhower argues that the resistance was “of inestimable value…without their great assistance, the liberation of France would have consumed a much longer time and meant greater losses to ourselves.” Olson summarizes her view nicely as she quotes historian Julian Jackson, “there was indeed a Resistance myth which needed to be punctured, but that does not mean that the Resistance was a myth.”

When evaluating the Dutch contribution Olson correctly takes General Bernard Montgomery to task. Montgomery had a large sense of self, arrogant and stubborn as he refused to take into account Dutch intelligence concerning the retaking of the port of Antwerp. Rather than securing the Scheldt River estuary before moving on to Operation Market Basket, Montgomery had his eye on racing to Berlin before the Americans or Russians arrived. As a result the Germans lay in wait, and Arnhem would become a trap leading to a fiasco which Montgomery’s over-sized ego caused.. “As a result, many more people would die, soldiers, and civilians alike. For the Netherlands, the consequences would be dire” as the Allies controlled southern Holland, but the Nazis the northern cities and they took out their retribution on the populations of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, the Hague, Utrecht, and others.

The latter part of the book evolves into a narrative of the last year of the war. Olson covers the salient facts and personalities as she tries to maintain to her “exile” theme. If one were to pick which character she was most impressed with it would be Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch people. Olson points out the errors that politicians made and how their decisions impacted the post war world particularly Czechoslovakia as Patton’s Third Army stood outside Prague and waited to allow the Soviet army march in. This along with Poland plight reflects Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower’s desire not to allow political implications affect how they decided to deploy American soldiers. Olson’s new book is an excellent read, a combination of straight narrative, interpretive, and empathetic history that all can enjoy.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting history of the refuge that Great Britain offered the occupied countries of Europe during World War II. At least, those countries which were able to get their government in exile over to England. France, for instance, was occupied but Charles de Gaulle managed to make it across the Channel and set himself up as leader of the Free French. Eventually, he became the leader of France itself. Most of Eastern Europe ended up in Nazi hands but Poland and Czechoslovakia had governments in London. Much good it did them as both were traded off to Stalin at the end of the war.

Ms. Olson tells all of these stories and much more in Last Hope Island. Most of the book is about the development and running of resistance movements in all of these countries by MI6 and SOE and the Litany of errors which cost thousands of people their lives will make your heart bleed. Still, for all the ridiculous errors, the courage and strength of this generation of people in all of these countries are astounding. The stories told here are long but interest never flags.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me awhile to read this book even though I started it soon after receiving the book as part of a Goodreads Giveaway. It is sad and disturbing because of the realities of war. Author Lynne Olson concentrates on the countries defeated by Germany such as Poland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Norway. She makes it clear that France, Poland, and the Netherlands played important parts in the wartime efforts to effect a resistance to their conquerors, an effort which eventually cost them dearly in lives and destruction. The other countries also participated, but were not major players after the U.S. and Russia entered the war. It was interesting to hear how the various monarchs reacted to occupation, especially Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and King Haakon VII of Norway, who escaped to Britain.

There was so much to tell about how people were encouraged to resist, and how the British tried to do so through MI6 and SOE, despite the animosity between the two organizations. Ineptness and betrayal cost so many lives, especially in France. It is a well-researched book, which shows how even with the best of intentions, things rarely go as planned in war. Reality stepped in to jeopardize the hopes of millions. Even after the shooting stopped, a divided Europe created a new war of repression and terror, but this time there was no 'last hope island.'

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lynne Olson is a master at shining a spotlight on the areas of World War II that aren't usually covered in books. In Last Hope Island, the WWII story is told through the eyes of occupied Europe - the citizens living under the thumb of the Nazis, and their governments exiled in London.

And those stories are riveting. The Earl of Suffolk risking his life to keep the nuclear bomb out of Hitler's hands; the BBC foreign service keeping hope alive all over the continent with their nightly broadcasts; Shan Hackett and his Dutch "aunts" who nursed him back to health; the 24-year-old girl whose photographic memory kept Germany's V2 rocket program from destroying London - those are just the ones I'm remembering off the top of my head.

Of course, for every riveting story there is an equally depressing story. "The England game" (which will make you furious) and the vengeful Nazi destruction of the city of Lidice come to mind. But when all of these stories are put together you get a pretty good picture of what happened.

[Joseph Sciuto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am going to make this review short, simply because, if you are interested in World War II this is a book that needs to be read. Ms. Olson is one of the great historians of our generation and many of her books that focus on World War 2  I have read and have always come away bedazzled and awe-struck by the knowledge I have come away with.

"Last Hope Island," has simply floored me in the amount of new material Ms. Olson has revealed in a personal and empathetic way that never obstructs the facts.

After the Germans had rolled over Continental Europe at the beginning of World War 2, Britain remained the only European democracy still holding out against the Nazi war machine and in so doing became the refuge for the governments, armed forces, and the spy networks of 7 countries, France, Poland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Czechoslovakia, and Denmark.
The contributions of these 7 governments in exile was nothing short of extraordinary. It was the efforts of the Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain that saved the British from becoming the eight country taken over by Hitler.  It was the contributions of the Polish and French code breakers that cracked the Germans' "Enigma Code," which led to the flood of top secret information about German intelligence and operations that would help ensure the success of the Allied invasion of occupied Europe. The Highly regarded MI6 was quite useless during most of the war and without a doubt contributed to the senseless deaths of thousands of spies and resistance networks in each of the seven occupied countries.

MI6 had a reputation for being the best spy organization in the world before the war simply because a number of fiction writers used MI6 as the organization for which their heroic, fictitious, spies worked for. 

President Roosevelt's betrayal of Poland and Czechoslovakia and his unwillingness to help the Netherlands at the end of the war while the Nazis were committing another genocide inside part of the country, is criminal. The Poles had probably done more to help the Allied cause than any other exiled country. The President said he didn't care about the Polish people, and he had promised that country to Stalin. General Patton was only forty miles from the Czechoslovakian capitol and when asked permission to free the Czechs from the Nazi oppression they suffered under for five years was told by Eisenhower that it would upset Stalin who was 120 miles away.

Ms. Olson reminds the reader that unless you lived under the brutal repression of the Germans or fought against them, or was part of a resistance, you really had no idea what was really going on. Apparently, quite a few prominent people in high positions, unknowingly, perpetrated the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent people, allies of ours, because their empathy went only so far.

This is a great book. I have only touched on a few parts of the book but, believe me, the knowledge I came away with was enormous.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bad book about World War II-era Britain is a black swan. This book is a white swan. No matter how many white swans are seen, the non-existence of black swans are not proven. It would take a really impressive amount of ill humor and dedication to pettyfoggery to produce a bad book about World War II-era Britain, although probably one exists somewhere.

Still, this book has slightly odd shifts in tone. It's a little like two different books mashed together. The author, in her afterword, says this is a project she started, abandoned, and picked up again years later, which may account for the extremes of mood.

One of the books is a feel-good book about plucky little England defending civilization against the Huns. All of the ingredients that make this era so much fun to read about are present in this book: the wastrel sons of the aristocracy who turn into heroes when needed, the quarreling refugees and expatriates, the powerful people coming around to the correct point of view at the last possible moment, the normal people behaving normally when doing so is a heroic act, the romance, the sudden death, the twists of fortune, the hair's breadth escapes, and so on. This is probably the book that people who read popular history like to read (rightly or wrongly).

The second book overlaps with the first, but also lights out for new territory. It's an angrier book about how provincialism, bureaucratic turf-fighting, and general short-sightedness on part of the Allies, but most frequently the British, needlessly sent thousands of people to their gruesome deaths at the hand of the Nazis. This was especially appalling in the chapters when knuckle-headed and self-regarding amateurs, whose sole talent seemed to be in the field of back-office paper-shuffling, played at war. The result was long periods of pointless slaughter of the brave and trusting, while those responsible used the supposed need of secrecy as a convenient excuse to avoid discovery. This is probably the book that people who read popular history need to read (but may not like).

I received an free unfinished galley of the ebook for review. Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for their generosity.

Also worth reading are the author's comments on Brexit here.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read more about WWII than almost any other event in history, and this books takes a perspective and gives details that I've never come across or paused to consider. It's the perfect blend of history, narrative, and anecdote. To see WWII unfold from the perspective of the exiled government heads of state was profoundly insightful, and a welcome break from the battle fields. Highly recommended.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was extremely interesting because it focused on those who escaped Europe as country after country fell to the armies of the Third Reich and found exile in London where they could continue the war against their nations enemies. London became the place where the governments of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, Norway and France fled, often disregarded, often snubbed and rarely appreciated they did their best to adjust and organize those military and intelligence officers who made their way to England.
Most histories of the European theater dwell on certain commanders, or battles, or on the fact that that little island of England stood alone against all odds, abandoned by everyone and who by sheer grit held off the Nazi onslaught praying that America would at last come to her aid.
This book tells quite a different story. It covers the actions of the intelligence communities, the military commitments and resistance organizers who with their heroism kept British hopes alive. I had realized that Polish pilots flew with the RAF, but most stories made it sound like there were a few...not the some 17,000 Polish pilots and crew that flew missions out of RAF bases, nor that in the Battle for Britain as older pilots with battle experience and different training became the top aces in the British skies. Few books cover the materials that came from the colonies controlled by the Dutch and Belgium Empires which provided the raw materials which could no longer be had from British colonies, or the gigantic merchant marine fleet of over 1,300 from Norway, and the many ships of the Dutch and Polish navies that protected the convoys.
Anyone who has read anything about Britain's MI6 and the SOE know how they were staffed by the most stupid and ill prepared dunderheads. Who recruited from the upper class preferring those with out university educations which they felt spoiled the mind, we hear a lot about Bletchley and their great code breakers, totally ignoring the fact that two Polish mathematicians had been breaking the Nazi code for years and invited the Brits to see the code breaking machines they built along with the bombes used. When Poland fell they manufactured additional machines which got spirited to both France and Britain. Yet when they escaped Poland and made it to England via a stay in France, the Brits not only did not trust them, but made sure they never got anywhere near Bletchley, even though their expertise would likely have put the code breaking way ahead by more than two years.
So this is a book that introduces the reader to a whole set of new heroes who went unsung for over 40 years...their stories unknown primarily because they didn't fit the war propaganda of either the Brits or Americans. It covers Market Garden from the view of the allied troops and the Dutch resistance and citizens on the ground who were ignored with disastrous results.
One expects many things to go wrong in the heat of battle, but the constantly rewarded incompetence of the Brits is truly unparalleled. Having known both Polish and Dutch refugees the allied behaviour toward these two nations is difficult to even fathom.

[Pam Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lynn Olson's WWII History is a most compelling narrative which looks at the European Theater through a different lens than the thousands of true history books on WWII, or even just the ETO. I have read a lot of WWII history, but never one that details so well its impact on the low countries, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

From the outset, refugees from all nations flocked to Great Britain. As early as 1940, well over 100,000 continental exiles had taken up residence in London. To the consternation of Kings and Prime Ministers, nearly all were exiled to London (at the behest of their countrymen). ~ "To cross over to England you had to sacrifice all you loved. . . for this one privilege: to fight the Nazis as a free man." Churchill gave great hope to the downtrodden French who were not historic allies of the Brits.

"sleep to gather strength for the morning . . . Brightly will it shine on the brave and the true, kindly upon all who suffer for the cause, glorious upon the tombs of heroes. Thus will shine the dawn. Vive la France!"

The mammoth contribution of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt was ultimately to rescue continental Europe. I never realized that Winston Churchill coined the V sign of victory, which was then taken up by the BBC, and has been with the world since that time.



The BBC is the oldest radio station in the world, and they played an invaluable role during those 6 years. They broadcast all over Europe, often in code which directed groups of allies, pilots, and other S.O.E. operatives. Over the BBC Winston Churchill, Roosevelt, and other Presidents, Prime Ministers, Kings and Queens offered messages of strength, hope, and courage to their troops and occupied countrymen.

"Crumbs of bread fed the hungry mouths of Europe, but the BBC fed the hungry souls"

The cogent reasons ascribed by Churchill and Roosevelt for the abandonment of Czechoslovakia and Poland were to me unfathomable. It was a Polish cryptographer who broke the Ultra/Enigma code which was a critical factor in winning the war. Polish soldiers and airmen by the thousands made heroic contributions, and very little thought was given to the defense of those nations by the allies. In fact, it was like a game of poker with Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin drawing new borders to the chagrin of the Poles. I didn't think they needed to barter away Poland to appease Stalin since Russia was also saved by allied efforts.

The S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive) played a huge role not only in France but in all of the occupied nations. S.O.E. activities were difficult to accept by M16 . The value of both organizations is debated in the book. What I loved about this book was it's a very honest look at the mistakes made by political leaders, generals, the S.O.E., and MI6. Untold numbers of lives were lost because of mistakes, and Lynn Olson omits no blunders or miscalculations.

[Regina Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the work currently available on WWII most of it focuses on the major players of the Allies (U.S., UK, Russia, and France) and the Axis (Germany, Japan, and Italy). There's so much work on these partnerships that it is refreshing to find a work whose major focus was the exiled governments that found refuge in England as well as the resistance movements left behind in their occupied countries. While there were seven occupied countries that found refuge in London, the book focuses on the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Noway, and Czechoslovakia. The opprobrium that British officials assigned to the countries who capitulated to Nazi invasion softened as the verve of the exiled leaders inspired resistance back home. Eventually, Churchill at least even if FDR never fully acceded, had to recognize the importance of the nations in the cause. Olson succinctly shows how contributions from the nations strengthened the air force, espionage, and ultimately the D-Day invasion.

WWII was the era that first ignited my interest in WWII when I was around. I've been reading on the subject every since. It is historical subject I feel I know most about. So, it is rare to find a book that has a lot of new information. What I enjoyed most about the book was the amount of information that was new to me. Of the leaders of the exiled countries I only knew a little about Queen Wilhelmina. I wouldn't have even been able to tell you the names of the other leaders. My interest has certainly been piqued and would love to find work on each of them. Even on the British side, there were new character introduced such as Lord Suffolk who was instrumental in getting heavy water out of Norway before Germany could secure it. I've always known it was a race between the US and Germany to develop the atomic bomb, but how close Germany actually came became apparent in this read. I've read a tremendous amount of work on the SOE. But, it has been focused on the women of the program. Olson delves into the larger network and the various arms in the occupied countries, which I found interesting.

I have two small criticisms. First, the strength of the book was when it was focused on the exiled governments and their countries. Olson drifts some into the politics between de Gaulle, Churchill, and FDR. There's nothing new here. My interest tended to drift. Also, I know there are two camps on the effectiveness of SOE's Noor Inayat Khan. One group paints her as completely inept while the other accedes she was initially inept but grew aplomb. I'm in the later. I can't accept the notion that someone who is as maladroit as the first group claims could evade the Nazis as long as she did after the Prosper network collapsed. So, I realize that's a personal bias, but there it is.

This was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

[Kristen Richeal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this as a Goodreads giveaway. I very much enjoyed this account WW2 pre America being involved. It seems like as an American we are taught in school that we saved everyone. Please read this book.

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like every other American growing up post-Vietnam and during the Cold War, I got the propaganda-version of WW II taught to me during school (and pretty much all of American history, really). We only got the briefest of overviews about WWII and the Holocaust, and our part in the war and a little about England's and that's about it.

This book doesn't go into super deep details - it's only 478 pages of text - but it does given a good description of the roles that the other Allied forces played in the war. It focuses on the powers in exile in England, so there's still a lot that goes uncovered, though even the Pacific theater and African coast get very brief mentions. What this focuses on is Poland, the Netherlands and France, and to a lesser extent Czechoslovakia, Belgium and Norway. It details various successes (like the fact that Poland broke Enimga long before Alan Turing and Ultra did; and the resistance movements in the various occupied countries) and failures (Market Garden extending the war another year; and I really hope the men and women at MI6 function better now than they did then, yikes).

The author did a good job of expressing all views of the various nations and their interests in the war. There was no finger-pointing, just statements of facts, misunderstandings and self-interest. (Though make no mistake, FDR's popularity in our nation's history is so not earned, and this book highlights many of the reasons why.) Everyone made blunders and everyone did their best under difficult circumstances.

This is a good book if you want to know more about the lesser-known facts of the war and can help point you towards things you might want to know more about for further research.

[Rosalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

History is written by the victors, but Olsen sings about the unsung heroes of WW2 in this book. Each chapter is a vignette of primarily Polish, Czech, Norwegian, Dutch, Belgian, or French exploits in the war, who not only had to deal with fleeing their homes and the Nazi or Soviet occupation of their countries, but with the often patronizing and downright incompetent British military and intelligence units who benefited from their wartime contributions yet minimized their importance. More than a few times, my blood boiled when reading of the flagrant disregard higher ups had for the more seasoned, boots on the ground perspectives, decisions that led to needless bloodshed, although I suppose it'll always be like that to some degree, across all nations and time.

Olsen did a great job of explaining the historical and geographical reasons for differing countries' attitudes and decisions made throughout the war, and it's wryly funny to see the similarities between the U.K. and the U.S. even now; their supposed untouchability, separated by sea from others, and the resulting proud, isolationist stance or "main character energy" they take when faced with global matters. In today's politically fraught time (when has it not been, but recency bias, I am currently alive, and therefore living through it...yay), reading about how easily moral goodness and decency and rule of law can be squashed is...scary, understatement of the year. I am naturally a pessimist, but again, since I am alive, and Living Through It, I HAVE to believe in the goodness of people, for my sanity. There were so many acts of kindness and bravery throughout this book, people who knew full well they might never see the fruits of their labor, but they did it anyway, fueled by hope. This isn't even a review of the book now, I'm just rambling. Overall, an exciting, tense, sad, frustrating, and moving read. Below are some thoughts I had while reading: 

- Why does it seem like Roosevelt was aligning himself w/ Stalin over Western Europe? He basically laid down in front of them at the end...that was dumb.
- The Poles!! We should be singing their praises from the mountains. Heroes 100x over. We fcked them and the Czechs over big time. 
- The French...lemme try to be nice...i feel like it's my civic duty as an American to dunk on them...jk. Maybe just de Gaulle. I genuinely don't understand how he came out on top after all this. He didn't even do anything imo. 
- Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands is integrity personified. What a badass. 
- WOMEN! The unsung spies, nurses, scientists, soldiers. Cannot believe it was only after their wartime contributions did many of them in Europe "earn" their right to a vote. 

[Sue Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book starts at the beginning of the European part of WWII and discusses the migration of 6 continental European monarchies/governments to London , the war years, as well as the post war years. The author discusses the prejudices of the British towards the foreign exiles and the evolution of their attitudes as well as the effects these had in their decision making. I found that the author was very even handed in her accolades as well as her criticisms of each country.

[George Siehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many good things deserving to be said about this book that it makes preparing a review a challenge. Olson's deeply researched knowledge of her material and characters is gifted to the reader by an engaging, well organized prose. Five stars are not enough for "Last Hope Island."


The core of the book is the role of Britain as a haven for the outcasts of Europe during Hitler's conquest of the continent. Those outcasts ranged from royalty to fishermen, from fighting men of conquered countries to scientists who had already been working against Nazi interests. A great strength of this book is Olson's ability to present fully rounded characters to which one can relate, positively or negatively as the war against Hitler goes on.

Another great strength is her depiction of the extremely difficult task of wartime leaders in decision making: how and where to allocate resources, whom to trust, and how to balance dealings with allies. The moral and ethical tradeoffs the politicians made may cause the reader to cringe but, under the circumstances, could one have realistically done otherwise? One situation that was wrong was the scapegoating of neutral countries, especially Belgium. Belgium's King Leopold fought alongside the Allies, but chose to stay with his people during the war. He informed the Allies when his troops would surrender to the Germans as the Allies retreated to Dunkirk. The Allies lied when they said he did not inform them. Belgian bureaucrats who went to Britain further maligned Leopold who was emulating his father's choice to stay with the troops in WWI.

Olson presents Winston Churchill, the central figure of this work, as an outstanding wartime leader and an insightful analyst foreseeing the emerging threat of first the Nazis and later the Soviets. But
he also had flaws of character, such as the scapegoating, that he shared with lesser mortals.

Intelligence and espionage operations get major attention in this book. We learn the role of Polish codebreakers who had solved the working of the German code machine, Enigma, before the war. They shared their information with the French and British, but when they later came to Britain they were denied access to the British codebreaking center at Bletchley Park. There they could have contributed to breaking additional unsolved German codes. Olson provides telling examples of how amateurish some of the British espionage groups were, especially the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the group set up by Churchill to "Set Europe ablaze." Their efforts to infiltrate agents into occupied Europe were hampered by poor management and sometimes abysmal security practices. Their effectiveness was also hampered by their rival British espionage agency, MI6, whose undercutting actions apparently reached treasonous levels.

French General de Gaulle and British General Montgomery appear as seriously flawed individuals. Both suffered from (or enjoyed) large egos and arrogant personalities. Both also failed to trust vital information provided to them by local resistance groups, thus causing lost opportunities and greater casualties. This was especially true in the case of Montgomery's dithering in the Low countries with his failure to clear German forces from the estuary leading to the recently captured port of Antwerp. Making this port available would have speeded the liberation of The Netherlands and the ultimate movement into Germany, Olson explains. My only quibble with the great book comes here; the book lacks a map showing the disposition of forces in the area at the time.

The two closing chapters are informative guides to late- and post-war actions of many of the influential characters of the book in establishing what became the new geopolitics of the Cold War and beyond, to the European Union and Brexit. This time-spanning history is a masterful treatment in two different scales: the fate of nations and the course of human lives.

Apologies for the long review, but when you read the book you will see how much I have left out: early Norsk Hydro exploits, Arnhem, the Yalta fiasco, Poland, and more.

[Devyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads.

Last Hope Island is a big, thick, meticulously researched WW2 goldmine!
I have read obsessively and extensively about WW2 throughout my life and can honestly say that it is a rarity when I come across a book that has more information that I don't know, than information that I do.
Almost everything in this book was new to me and described with such delicious, satisfying detail that I just - Gah! I loved it!
I learned about the politics, military power, and the colossal contribution of smaller countries like Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Britain before, during, and after World War Two.
The uncountable contribution of soldiers, aircraft, and ships to Britain's military, specifically the Air Force and Navy, was something I didn't know, and what I delighted finding out about. I now know about the formidable, foulmouthed Queen Wilhelmina, bold, brave King Haakon (my personal favorite), King Leopold, Charles de Gaulle, and many, many others.
I found out about MI6 and SOE and it made me so mad. I have some very choice words to say about that bunch, but I'm not sure there is enough profanity to fairly describe those assholes.
I learned more about the underground resistance, a subject that will always fascinate and simultaneously make me bawl. The courage it took thousands of people to stand up to Hitler and his army of monsters was unimaginable.
In addition to all that yummy information, I learned about America from the perspective of small countries near Germany that didn't have anything of military or economic interest to the huge world power.
It wasn't pretty.
I have long known that America wasn't the Golden Boy Hero during WW2 like my elementary history books preached, but I grew up with that idea drilled into my head and it will always hurt to read otherwise.
Last hope Island is filled with a bunch more interesting tidbits on the subject of WW2 but I'm going to stop here. I noticed I'm becoming spastic- I always do when I review good books.

After reading this book I thought long and hard about why I haven't come across all this extensive information on my favorite subject before. I deduced the problem was that I'm only exposed to American books. American military history, biographies, ect. It seems I've only read book about, or from the perspective of, the big three: America, Russia, Britain.
I know now that I need to search out the books written about WW2 from other countries.

[Mary Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lynne Olson has taken on some unusual World War II themes in this book.

She introduces us to the heads of European states who fled Hitler to establish their countries' governments in London. We see how and why these leaders escaped from the Nazis instead of staying home and suffering with their countrymen, and how, despite their refugee status, they became heroes. Interestingly, on the other hand, Leopold of Belgium, decided not to flee to London, but to stay in Belgium to fight the Nazis. He is later captured by the Germans, and he fought for the rest of his life against a perception that he was a Nazi collaborator.

Olson follows these leaders and the resistance movements in their countries.

Olson also shows us the important part the BBC played in the war, both as a leader in the dissemination of news throughout Europe and as a player in intelligence operations.

A large part of the book takes a hard look at the disgraceful judgment and mistakes of the British intelligence.

This is an easy book to read and it tells some fascinating stories.

[Sean O · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Lynne Olson’s world war 2 books. They take a human and political approach to an era that is usually reserved for big biographies. This makes her books a little anecdotal as the story moves from Norway to Netherlands to London to France.

The takeaway? Everybody kowtowed to Stalin in order to defeat Hitler and they sacrificed Poland and Czechoslovakia to do it.

King Hakkon and Queen Wilhelmina are revealed as real heroes. But there are dozens of Poles, French, British, and Dutch heroes given their due in this book.

Absolutely recommended if you liked her other books.

[Numidica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started my working life as an Army Officer, and I read many, many books about World War II, both for pleasure and for professional development. I have also read a good deal about the Resistance and the S.O.E. in recent years, and yet I learned something new on almost every page of this book. I have enjoyed Lynne Olson's writing for some time, especially Those Angry Days, but this is her best book, in my opinion. Her recounting of the bravery of the French, Polish, and other resistance groups is excellent, informative, and heart-rending; the day after I finished reading the book, I heard on the car radio that Jeannie Rousseau had died at age 98, and I almost had to pull over. I had no idea how much the Polish airmen helped the RAF, or how the Norwegian merchant marine helped keep Britain from starving, or the Poles' role in breaking Enigma. The Resistance stories I knew a bit about, but Olson's telling of the exploits of Andree' de Jongh, or Jeannie Rousseau, or the Polish resistance fighters are the best I've seen. The book is a history, but it reads like a thriller.