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A Hateful Decision

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What to expect

Summer, 1940. Winston Churchill watches in horror as France falls to the Germans in just six weeks, completing the Nazi conquest of mainland Europe. He faces an urgent question: what will happen to the mighty French Navy? Under Hitler's control it presents a major threat, and could make the German advance unstoppable.

With the Nazis closing in, Churchill orders Operation Catapult. By the end of one of the most agonising but necessary military operations of the war, the British will have destroyed a large part of the French Navy and nearly 1,300 French sailors will be dead.

‘This was a hateful decision, the most unnatural and painful in which I have ever been concerned... But no act was ever more necessary for the life of Britain and for all that depended upon it.’
WINSTON CHURCHILL

Based on extensive new research and rediscovered eyewitness accounts, A Hateful Decision tells for the first time the full story of the British attack on the French fleet at Mers el Kébir, on 3 July 1940.

As we pass between the men on the ground and the ratcheting tension in the European corridors of power, this riveting book brings to life Churchill’s darkest hour, and the act that demonstrated to the world how far Britain would go to win the war.

'This is history as it should be written: as page-turning and compelling as the best thriller, rich in human drama yet deeply researched and authoritative... superbly told with compassion, edge-of-seat tension and the deftness of a master story-teller.'
JAMES HOLLAND

'One the toughest decisions Churchill was forced to make. Abel Smith takes us right into the heart of the drama... Minute by minute chances slip away, and pride, fate and war collide. Utterly gripping.'
AL MURRAY
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'Read this astonishing book on Churchill's darkest hour.'
JOHN SWEENEY

A Hateful Decision reads like a thriller and is based on a mass of meticulous and original research. An invaluable contribution to the history of the Second World War.’
JONATHAN DIMBLEBY

© Edward Abel Smith 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critics Review

This is history as it should be written: as page-turning and compelling as the best thriller, rich in human drama yet deeply researched and authoritative. Abel Smith has a rare eye for detail and this tragic episode in the Second World War is superbly told with compassion, edge-of-seat tension and the deftness of a master story-teller.
James Holland
The summer of 1940 is not short on drama and Operation Catapult – when the Royal Navy turned its guns on the French Fleet to deny it falling into enemy hands – is one the toughest decisions Churchill was forced to make. Edward Abel Smith takes us right into the heart of the drama, as men who worked together as allies faced each other as possible enemies. Minute by minute chances slip away, and pride, fate and war collide.
Al Murray
In war, the worst is not killing the enemy but someone in the way. Read this astonishing book on Churchill's darkest hour.
John Sweeney
A Hateful Decision reads like a thriller and is based on a mass of meticulous and original research. As a result, the tension in the hours leading up to the moment when the Royal Navy's big guns were turned on French warships in the summer of 1940 is portrayed as vividly as the anguish of everyone at every level on both sides who played a part in a fateful military operation in which thousands of sailors lost their lives. By throwing a powerful spotlight on this little-known maritime drama, Abel Smith has made an invaluable contribution to the history of the Second World War.
Jonathan Dimbleby
Meticulously researched and written with panache, A Hateful Decision sheds new light on one of the most compelling yet least known dramas of the Second World War - the destruction of the French fleet by the British navy. Authoritative and revelatory - a must read.
Giles Milton
Author Edward Abel Smith
Narrator Roy McMillan
Duration 7 hours and 57 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781529988055
Format Audiobook
Publisher Transworld
Genre Battles and campaigns, European history, Naval forces and warfare, Second World War
Availability AU, GB, IE

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