A joint profile of Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and their armed forces commanders Alan Brooke and George C. Marshall evaluates the pivotal ways in which they determined the strategies of allied forces during World War II, in an account that reveals their divergent agendas and tense efforts to collaborate or outmaneuver each other.

"First published in Great Britain in 2008 by Allen Lane"--Title page verso. Previous ed. has subtitle: how Roosevelt, Churchill, Marshall, and Alanbrooke won the war in the West. "First published in Great Britain in 2008 by Allen Lane"--T.p. verso.

Pt. 1. Enchantment --First encounters: 1880-June 1940 -- Collecting allies: June 1940-December 1941 -- Egos in Arcadia: December 1941-February 1942 -- Brooke and Marshall establish dominance: February-March 1942 -- Gymnast falls, Bolero retuned: February-April 1942 -- pt. 2. Engagement -- Marshall's mission to London: April 1942 -- The commanders at Argonaut: April-June 1942 -- The masters at Argonaut: June 1942 -- Torch reignited: July 1942 -- The most perilous moment of the war: July-November 1942 -- The Mediterranean garden path: November 1942-January 1943 -- The Casablanca conference: January 1943 -- The hard underbelly of Europe: January-June 1943 -- The overlordship of Overlord: June-August 1943 -- pt. 3. Estrangement -- From the St. Lawrence to the pyramids: August-November 1943 -- Eureka! at Teheran: November-December 1943 -- Anzio, Anvil and Culverin: December 1943-May 1944 -- D-Day and Dragoon: May-August 1944 -- Octagon and Tolstoy: August-December 1944 -- Autumn mist: December 1944-February 1945 -- Yalta requiem: February-May 1945 -- Conclusion: The riddles of the war.