Books: Changed Men

THE MEN AROUND CHURCHILL—Rene Kraus—Lippincott ($3).

Between two devastating defeats, Norway and France, Britons quietly won the one victory without which they could not hope to survive in World War II—they liquidated the class war in England for the duration. Entirely within the framework of their democracy, Britons freed themselves of those fatal tensions and cleavages that plague other democracies, paralyzed France. The miracle of Britain's outnumbered defense was made possible by the miracle of British class collaboration.

This week Biographer Rene Kraus (Winston Churchill; TIME, Nov. 4) described this crucial compromise in...