INTERVIEW: Inside the Anti-Axis Alliance of WWII with historian Tim Bouverie

On this episode of Why Wars Happened, host Emily Ross sits down with British historian Tim Bouverie to talk about his latest book, Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World. Their conversation unpacks the tense and often fragile relationships between the major Allied leaders—Stalin, FDR, and Churchill—as well as the cracks in lesser-known partnerships.

From the breakdown of the Anglo-French alliance to the uneasy coordination between the U.S., Britain, and the Soviet Union, Bouverie shares how political rivalries, mistrust, and wartime strategy collided behind the scenes. He offers new insight into how these internal tensions shaped key moments like the Yalta Conference—and ultimately, the course of the war itself.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Welcome to Why Wars Happened

00:49 – Meet today’s guest: Tim Bouverie

01:10 – What Allies at War is all about

01:42 – Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill—and their complicated ties

04:31 – U.S.–Britain relations before the war

08:49 – How the Allied powers worked (and clashed)

12:53 – Seeing the war from Stalin’s point of view

24:08 – The Yalta Conference: what was really going on

29:09 – Wrapping it all up

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