This was a fascinating review of attitudes during World War II regarding occupied Europe and the role leaders of defeated countries who fled to Britain played in their countries’ liberation. The descriptions of how these leaders left their countries and the decisions they made were fascinating. I’d never explored this side of WWII history before and it was fascinating. I would highly recommend this novel for its’ historical importance and the perspective it provides. I’ve read a lot of WWII literature and this was the first one to really dive into the subject of the leaders of countries that fell to the Nazis.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A very interesting book for anyone interested in World War II and the governments which fled to Britain when it was the on its own, fighting against the Germans. I enjoyed reading how their governments were far more involved in the continued fighting throughout the war.

This book was amazing. I love history and this book made it come alive as if I was there in the moment. I learned a lot in this book and I have read many on World War II. Very well written and hard to put down. I highly recommend this book.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I don't care for war stories that just enumerate the numbers of casualties, what happened when, and which country was more successful in killing more of the others' soldiers.

This book brought the war down to a human level, and showed the reader how war was navigated by (mostly) men whose leaders were often in another country (Great Britain). I thought I knew quite about WWII, but I learned so many new details and nuances while reading Last Hope Island.

This wasn't a dry, dull, history read but an interesting and compelling human interest story. Among other stories, I learned about the under-reported Polish contribution to the Allied victory, including its pioneering work in decoding German security codes.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Lynne Olson's books.

Special thanks to Net Galley for an ARC.

Excellent, extremely well-researched history. _Last Hope Island_ fills a niche in WWII history that all the books on the great battles and campaigns and personal experiences and biographies of generals and politicians neglect: the role of European refugees (particularly military and political) in Britain during the war.

I, for one, never realized how much the expatriate Poles, Czechs, Norwegians, Dutch, and French contributed to saving England, and then defeating the Nazis. But this isn't a glowing, hero tale: we also see the self-defeating political infighting among the European refugees, and the often feckless (and inexcusably fatal) efforts of the British intelligence establishment.

This was the first book that I've read by Lynne Olson, and I was definitely not disappointed! In this book, Olson combines a wealth of research with her gifted writing style in a fascinating account of some of the lesser known aspects of World War Two. I've read quite a few books about the war, but I was only marginally familiar with most of the narratives in the book. Rather than focusing on the course of the battles and the strictly military events, Olson takes a look behind the scenes at the drama going on in the exiled governments of Europe and behind enemy lines on the continent. Last Hope Island narrows its focus to six nations (Norway, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Holland, Belgium, and France) and their relationships to Britain during the war. The book chronicles the Nazi takeover of these countries, the establishment of governments and military forces in exile, and the resistance movements that sprung up under the Nazi rule. Olson also tells of the many contributions that the people of these occupied nations made to the war effort.

Both because of the amount of information in this book, and the engaging style in which it is written, I recommend this book to anyone interested in history. I will be reading it again! I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher and was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I express in this review are entirely my own.

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.

Last Hope Island : Britain, Occupied Europe, and the Brotherhood That Helped Turn the Tide of War by Lynne Olsen is a unique, extremely readable, and well researched nonfiction work about an aspect of World War II history that has not often been written about. I am a lover of history, an avid reader, and a librarian by trade who has helped educators and researchers find all kinds of interesting information about World War II, and I learned many new things from this book. It helped me see that era of history with a whole new perspective. When the Nazi shadow rolled across Europe, London and the U.K. became a refuge for six governments and members of their armed forces exiled from their home countries: Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Belgium as well as a haven for de Gaulle and the Free French. These exiles, along with help from the British government and other Allies, made a powerful difference in ensuring an Allied victory. This factual real- life account is full of accounts of heroism that are as engrossing as any work of fictional intrigue--more so in fact! Here is a portion of the introduction of this book: "Over the next ten years, I wrote three more books about World War II, all dealing with various aspects of Britain’s struggle for survival in the war’s early years. Much of my focus was on Winston Churchill’s extraordinary leadership and the courage of ordinary Britons in waging that fight. I also examined Britain’s relationship with its two major wartime allies—the United States and Soviet Union. In exploring these subjects, I made another discovery: Poland was hardly the only occupied European country to have helped the Allied cause. Indeed, most of the captive nations whose governments escaped to London provided aid as well—support that, in the dark years of 1940 and 1941, arguably saved Britain from defeat and, in the latter part of the war, proved of immense benefit to the overall Allied victory. So why have their contributions been so neglected by historians, who generally portray the victory as an unalloyed American-British-Soviet triumph? Churchill, as it happens, bears much of the responsibility for the omission. Early in the war, he created the image of plucky little England standing alone against the greatest military behemoth in world history. He ceaselessly promoted that idea throughout the conflict and afterward, broadcasting to the British people on V-E Day: “After gallant France had been struck down, we, from this island and from our united Empire, maintained the struggle single-handed until we were joined by the military might of Soviet Russia and later by the overwhelming powers and resources of the United States.” Churchill’s claim overlooks the fact that the occupied countries, from their base in London, were still at war, too. Without their help, the British might well have lost the Battle of Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic and might never have conquered the Germans’ fiendishly complex Enigma code—all essential factors in Britain’s survival. At the center of this rich, intensely human story is its host of larger-than-life characters, from monarchs and scientists to spies and saboteurs. Some, like de Gaulle, are well known. Most, however, are not. The heroic King Haakon VII of Norway and the feisty Dutch queen, Wilhelmina, are two of the book’s prominent figures. So is the Earl of Suffolk, a swashbuckling British aristocrat whose rescue of two nuclear physicists from France helped make the Manhattan Project possible. Among others playing noteworthy roles are Marian Rejewski, a Polish cryptographer who cracked the Enigma code long before the involvement of Alan Turing and Bletchley Park, and Andrée de Jongh, a pretty, tough-minded young Belgian whose escape network smuggled hundreds of downed British and American airmen out of enemy territory and back to freedom. While this book provides a detailed account of these and other European wartime exploits, it also describes how much the occupied countries received from Britain in return. To captive Europe, the mere fact of British resistance to Hitler was a beacon of hope, a talisman against despair. For as long as the war lasted, Europeans engaged in a precious nightly ritual: they retrieved their radio sets, which had been outlawed by the Germans, from a variety of hiding places—beneath the floorboards, behind canned goods in the kitchen cupboard, secreted in the chimney. Then, in whatever the setting, the owners of the sets switched them on and tuned to the BBC in time to hear the chiming of Big Ben and the magical words “This is London calling.” During and after the war, Europeans described those furtive moments listening to BBC news programs as their lifeline to freedom. A Frenchman who escaped to London late in the war recalled, “It’s impossible to explain how much we depended on the BBC. In the beginning, it was everything.” For a young Dutch law student, hope took the shape of two Spitfires flashing over a beach near The Hague early in the war. He stared up in wonder at the planes, their RAF markings bright in the sun. “Occupation had descended on us with such crushing finality,” he later wrote, “that England, like freedom, had become a mere concept. To believe in it as something real, a chunk of land where free people bucked the Nazi tide, required a concrete manifestation like a sign from God: England exists!” Less than a year later, he would escape to Britain and become an RAF pilot himself. Another escapee, a Belgian journalist who’d managed to flee a Nazi concentration camp, arrived in London “drunk with happiness.” “Do you know I have been dreaming of this moment for months?” he exclaimed to a British friend. “Isn’t it wonderful to be here! Why, millions of people all over the continent are thinking at this very moment of London!” A young Polish resistance fighter echoed that sentiment, declaring that “getting to London was like getting to heaven.” Polish pilots who flew with the RAF during the war referred to Britain as “Last Hope Island.” YET FOR ALL THE SUPPORT that the British and Europeans provided each other, their relationship, more often than not, was a tempestuous one, fraught with conflict and misunderstanding. Thrown together in desperate times under extraordinarily stressful circumstances, they grappled with culture clashes and language differences even as they struggled to survive the German military steamroller bearing down on them. To many exiled Europeans, the British seemed arrogant and insensitive, knowing little of the world outside their island and failing to understand the ruthlessness of the German occupation of the Continent. The British, meanwhile, had little patience with the constant feuding, rivalries, and demands of the foreigners crowding their shores. Nonetheless, as the war reached its climax, most were able to put aside their differences and work closely together toward their mutual goal: defeating Hitler. At the end of the conflict, an RAF air marshal voiced a common sentiment when he remarked of the European pilots who flew under his command, “Together, we have formed a brotherhood.” A similar sense of fraternity developed among the Europeans themselves. “No matter our varied origins and uncertain futures, we stood shoulder to shoulder,” a Dutch intelligence agent noted about the Poles, French, Norwegians, Belgians, and Czechs he met in London. “Beyond the society of Dutchmen with which I earlier had so passionately identified, a wider brotherhood emerged and received me with open arms.” As the war progressed, members of the various European governments in exile also forged tight-knit bonds, both official and personal. The trauma of defeat and occupation had convinced them that their nations must band together after the war if Europe hoped to achieve any kind of future influence, strength, and security. Their cooperation in London planted the seeds of the campaign for European unification that followed the conflict—an extraordinary effort that helped lead to more than half a century of peace and prosperity for western Europe." I highly recommend this stellar volume of World War II history and thank Random House and NetGalley for the ARC and for allowing me to review this book.

I didn't finish this one. I wasn't able to connect with it. I won't leave a review anywhere. Thank you for the chance to read it.

Fascinating look at how Europe's leaders sought refuge in England and led the war from abroad. The book talks about how the various monarchs and leaders arrived in England and what they did-both heroic and underhanded-to help defeat the Nazis. Some of the underhanded actions had consequences that are still being felt today.

In "Last Hope Island," Olson does everything she can to dispel the simplified misconception that the Allied Forces of WWII being little more than a UK-US-USSR partnership. She shines the spotlight as brightly as she possibly can through a plethora of data on the various European nations who also helped fight the good fight in every possible way that they could. This was an extraordinarily diverse group of determined souls, ranging from the royals-in-exile who did their best to bring hope and encouragement to their Nazi-occupied peoples, to the thousands of pilots, soldiers, sailors, scientists, and others who escaped and made the epic trip to the UK to carry on the fight from there, and to the thousands in Europe who resisted in every way imaginable from their extensive intelligence gathering operations to the numerous escape routes they bravely provided for downed pilots and fellow countrymen in the face of countless risks.

Even better, Lynne doesn't sugarcoat this as a narrative of nothing but heroism, tenacious bravery and determination. She makes sure to cover all the darker sides of what went on in the haven of the UK, from the numerous and outrageous bungles made by some of the intelligence agencies, the clashing between the governments-in-exile and their British hosts at various time, and the flat-out betrayals that had to be made in difficult situations. So not only does she make sure to tell as complete a story as she possibly can, Lynne in turn makes the actual victories and successes of the book's subjects all the more incredible given the vast array of challenges dealt with on mainland Europe and the infighting and tensions that plagued operations back across the channel.

Lynne has done us an incredible service with this book. Not only does she show what can be done through the power of cooperation and union in these times of growing distrust and countries turning inwards, but she provides a badly-needed voice to all those incredible men and women of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, the Netherlands, and other occupied nations of WWII Europe to help make sure that their invaluable contributions and sacrifices will not be forgotten.

Last Hope Island by Lynne Olson is the often contradictory story of how all of the monarchs and heads of state of Europe took refuge in Brittan is one by one their countries were overrun by Nazis during World War II. I call it contradictory because as many nations’ monarchs and governments in exile took refuge in Brittan the treatment they received was far from equal particularly as relates to many Eastern Europeans in exile. On one hand, these groups often helped in the war effort, but were left high and dry as the war ended or in the case of the Poles during it as well.

But then again, Last Hope Island also details thorny relations between UK-France and an almost sad realization that the British Empire as had been known was dead thanks to the US becoming so prominent. So there was this shock of Brittan itself expending so much on the war effort including salvaging Europe, but being an afterthought by the wars conclusion. This book throws a lot at the reader from the situation of survival for monarchs from Norway, Belgium, Denmark and others to the decisions of the governments in exile for the Czechs and Poles of Eastern Europe. There’s also these great power rivalries and the planting of the seeds of the Cold War and somehow this all gets molded into an incredible reading and engaging book.

I would like to thank Lynne Olson, Random House and Netgalley for granting my wish for this amazing book!
Review By Stephanie
5 Stars
This book was AMAZING!!!! I am sitting here staring at my laptop trying to put into words how moving this book is but I am totally speechless! ( or typless lol)
I am a fan of WWII books, but I feel like Lynne Olson out did herself with this novel. Writing a book consumed with history Lynne did an amazing job of teaching me so much, tackle some very difficult moments with such grace and respect. You can tell that this is truly Lynne’s passion and just how amazing she is!
All I can say is ONE CLICK this book right now! Last Hope Island is an epic novel that will stay with you even once you are done!

I received a free Kindle of Last Hope Island by Lynne Olson courtesy of Net Galley and Random House, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review to Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my history book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as I have read a great deal about World War II, but the description covered subjects that I had read little about. This is the first book by Lynne Olson that I have read.

The book revolves around two main themes - foreign dignitaries and commoners that spent the war in England and the resistance forces in the various countries occupied by Nazi Germany. The book is well researched and written. The book is fascinating in that it concentrates on many overlooked events in other histories of this time period.

Among the things I learned was that Polish aviators played an important role in assisting the RAF in the Battle of Britian, Audrey Hepburn's role in the resistance and the life long effects that malnurisment and disease played in her life, the role the resistance played in the occupied countries and the politics that took place in Britain involving the foreign governments housed there during the period.

Also, based on numerous quotes I want to read more of what the authors Max Hastings and Rick Akitson wrote about World War II.

I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in World War II and in particular to those who are interested in reading something new on the subject.

Last Hope Island is a powerfully written amalgamation of stories of a Europe occupied by Nazi Germany and the men, women, and governments who joined forces to resist a common enemy. I was fascinated to learn these new aspects to World War II- many of them unknown or poorly understood by myself and (probably) many others. Olson takes a dauntingly large saga and humanizes it, introducing us to King Haakon of Norway and the Dutch Queen Wilhemina, both standing strong against Hitler and becoming symbols of strength for their countries. We meet heroes like Andree de Jongh and the de Nooij sisters, among others who helped smuggle Allied soldiers out to safety or hid wounded soldiers, protecting them from Nazis. Especially important are the stories of Polish and Czech soldiers and pilots who helped turn the Battle of Britain, the Polish cryptographers who broke the "unbreakable" Enigma code and the intelligence agents who smuggled out information vital for the D-Day beach landings.

Olson does her best not to idolize or whitewash any of the history she examines. Along with the heroic victories are plenty of defeats, and Olson takes an honest look at the British and American leaders who refused to accept assistance or believe information coming from Europeans- leading to such disasters as the Allied defeat at Arnhem in 1944. The popular myth of Britain's Secret Service as being a brilliant and unbeatable spy operation is smashed to bits as Olson examines MI6 and the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally underfunded operations recruiting young aristocrats and providing little to no training before sending them into the field, the groups seemed to put more emphasis on fighting each other for credit and funding than focusing on improving their intelligence operations to defeat Hitler.

The BBC gets special notice in Last Hope Island, as a beacon of hope as well as providing the public with a separation from propaganda and focusing on telling the news- the truth, the whole truth, no matter how awful it might be. I found the chapters focusing on the BBC especially poignant and inspirational because they focused on the every day, and inspiring and encouraging people through even small actions. The story of the "avalanche of Vs" might seem like the kind of thing you'd see in a movie, but was a perfect example of how a small action could help people feel like they were not just giving up. In a world as inundated with news as ours is, Last Hope Island helps us understand the power of the radio when it was almost the only way of connecting with the outside world.

Lynne Olson does a wonderful job of immersing the reader in the world of Occupied Europe and wartime London, and the mindset of the people living there. Last Hope Island is a riveting book, and certainly a must-read for history lovers.

As with a lot of nonfiction this one is hard to unpack. Much like the actual war itself this book is long and full of information. At times it read much like a textbook, so full of information that it was hard to continue and other times where you were so invested in the stories that you laughed and cheered aloud.

The book centers around Britain and it’s role in the war. Thrown into a central role as a defacto capital, many of the various countries overtaken by the Germans had rulers who fled here.

The various topics covered are the BBC and their role in the war. The RAF and their key battles that helped keep the Germans out of Britain and the Polish fighters that were instrumental. The various resistance organizations and the acts of resistance whether they be as little as scrawling a V on every empty space, ignoring their occupiers as the French did or the thousands of students in Czecholsolvakia who protested and in turn were arrested, tortured, executed and some sent to concentration camps.
The winding down of the war and the politics that played into freeing certain countries and not others.

The author didn’t sugarcoat anything and I have learned an awful lot about the war that I wasn’t aware of. I highly recommend for anyone who is an avid WWII enthusiast.
3.5⭐️’s

**I received this free advanced reader’s copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Promises kept; promises broken. For the governments of European nations invaded by Nazi Germany, Britain was the “last hope” for survival. In this unique book, Olson examines the relationships between Britain and these European nations (with the exceptions of Greece and Yugoslavia). Its thanks to the citizens of these nations that operations, spying, code breaking and military operations had positive outcomes, though there were operations during the war that the refusal to include key individuals from other nations resulted in death and destruction. Throughout the book, Olson’s storytelling led me to feel despair, hope and anger. Olson takes the stories from these nations and gives accounts not normally told in history classes – the story behind the story. I am very glad I had an opportunity to read this book.

Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys studying World War II history; military history enthusiasts; those who enjoy stories of courage and survival; and those who read political histories.

This was a very enjoyable read. I enjoyed viewing World War II from a new and unexpected perspective. I took this along on vacation and found myself reading passages aloud to my husband, something I rarely do. I felt compelled to share things I learned from this book.

This was a good read. I know a good bit about WWII, but this came from another angle. We all know about Britain and the US, but Olson details the part the other European countries played. The title comes from the way those countries and peoples looked at Britain. Well-researched and surprisingly easy to read, even though it had a lot of people, a lot of details and a lot of locations. Those sometimes overwhelm a book. Not this one.