The Missing Years 1941-1945
British History Military History Political Biography World War II History Historical Revisionism Adult Nonfiction War Diaries & Letters
The Missing Years 1941-1945 is David Irving’s long-out-of-print 603-page investigation into the vanished wartime diaries and correspondence of Sir Winston Churchill. First released in 1989 by Grafton Books, this vintage paperback is the edition collectors target because it contains the full, uncensored text that was later trimmed in reprints. Inside, Irving traces how whole sections of Churchill’s personal papers—covering controversial topics such as the sinking of the Lusitania, the bombing of Dresden, and secret deals with Stalin—were quietly removed from the official archive and did not re-surface for decades. For history buffs, military researchers, and biography collectors, owning this original 1989 printing is the only way to read the suppressed details in their original context.
What makes the book especially sought-after is its meticulous primary-source approach. Irving worked from newly de-classified files, Freedom-of-Information releases, and interviews with surviving Churchill staffers to reconstruct day-by-day events that the sanitized six-volume official biography never mentions. The result is a narrative that feels like a historical thriller: a paper-chase through Whitehall basements, American archives, and the closed rooms of post-war publishers. Readers come away with a granular picture of how wartime propaganda was crafted, which documents were destroyed, and why certain “official” versions of events still dominate textbooks today.
Collectors prize this 1989 Grafton paperback for its sturdily bound, bible-thin pages that have proven to age better than the heavier hardback. The copy offered here is clean and unmarked—no ex-libris plate, no margin notes, no dog-eared corners, and only light shelf dust on the closed edge from decades in a smoke-free home. Because the title has never been digitized as an e-book, physical copies in this condition are increasingly scarce, driving up secondary-market prices. For anyone building a serious Second World War library, this is the missing puzzle-piece that explains what Churchill himself chose to hide, and why those years still matter to modern geopolitics.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
Buy Now