When I was growing up in England, history consisted of an endless line of kings and queens, punctuated by frequent wars fought mostly against the French. This cheerful view of history (we always beat the French) culminated in our recent triumph in World War II. The...

The title of my novel Infinite Stakes comes from Winston Churchill’s description of the Battle of Britain in 1940 —“the odds were great; our margins small; the stakes infinite.”  In this battle, which lasted from July until September, 1940, Hitler’s Luftwaffe air...