The second ot the eight volumes dealing with the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theatres in the 18-volume official British History of the Second World War, this book is largely concerned with the consequences of Germany s decision to prop up its faltering Italian ally in North Africa in 1941. It opens with General Rommel reversing Britain s conquest of Italian Cyrenaica, and increasing Axis air attacks on the fortress island of Malta. Britain s naval victory against the Italians at Cape Matapan in March is swiftly followed by British reverses in the Balkans. A British-backed anti-Nazi coup d etat in Yugoslavia results in April in Germany .s occupation of that country and Britain s retreat from Greece before a relentless German advance. Germany s airbourne invasion of Crete sparks a fierce battle for the island, ending in a British evacuation. A pro-Axis coup in Iraq is followed by a successful British intervention, which deposes the pro-Nazi Rashid Ali regime in Baghdad. British and Free French forces also occupy Vichy French-ruled Syria. The book ends with more attacks on Malta, the building-up of Allied forces in the Middle East, and General Wavell s replacement by General Auchinleck as British Commander in North Africa. The text is supported by 10 appendices, 29 maps and diagrams and 44 photographs.