On 7 May 1940, as Nazi Germany prepared to invade Belgium, France and the Netherlands, a celebrated naval hero delivered a powerful speech in Parliament, lambasting Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement. His dramatic intervention sparked a revolt among Conservative backbenchers, resulting in Chamberlain’s resignation and ushering in Winston Churchill’s wartime coalition. The man who gave this speech changed the course of the Second World War. His name was Sir Roger Keyes.

Though Keyes has been largely forgotten, he was a huge celebrity at the time, known by everyone from the top brass in the military and in Westminster to the film stars of Hollywood. His leadership of the Zeebrugge and Ostend raids in 1918 was the stuff of legend, transforming him into a national hero symbolising Britain’s fighting spirit. Though revered by the men under his command, his combative style made him powerful enemies, and he was passed over for the position of First Sea Lord due to his opposition to naval disarmament. Keyes entered Parliament in 1934, where he campaigned fiercely against appeasement. Later, he created and championed the Commandos, the elite special forces unit that terrorised Hitler’s coastal defences.

For over sixty years, Sir Roger Keyes was in the thick of the action. Breaking the silence that now surrounds his name, In the Cannon’s Mouth is a definitive, warts-and-all biography that will restore this wartime hero to his rightful place in British history.

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Reviews

“It’s great to have a modern biography for such a significant figure in the Royal Navy’s history.”

Vice Admiral Paul Beattie CBE RN, Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff

“This well-researched and scintillatingly written book is an important new addition to the world of Churchill studies. Michael Keegan proves that Roger Keyes was a key Churchillian, deserving of far more historical attention than the slim pickings he has so far gleaned.”

Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny

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