Friendly Fire

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. As a result of these manoeuvres between the Allies, the war lasted around two years longer than it should have done. The end result was a Europe divided between the 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. Individual countries deliberately misled their own citizens about the real reasons they were fighting, even resorting to the assassination of major figures who threatened to expose the real agenda. 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 suspi