The invasion of France and its timing was one of the most important issues in the course of the war, and it continued even after the war to spur historiographical disagreement. Churchill, British Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, was a key figure in the controversy. After the war, he was charged by both American and Russian personalities with having been against the invasion and having played an important role in its postponement. Churchill countered these contentions in his book on the war. He asserted that he had never opposed the invasion and even considered himself as having originated the concept of a massive invasion of Western Europe. According to him, where he differed from the Americans was not on the plan to invade northern France but on the proper timing; the invasion had to be carried out in 1944 and not before, because only then would conditions be ripe for it. 1 His arguments were buttressed by the official British history of the Grand Strategy of the war, written jointly by a number of historians, which appeared mainly in the 1950s and 1960s. This official history influenced American researchers as well, and they accepted Churchill's version even before the British archives were opened.2 The historian A. J. P. Taylor opined twenty years ago, "Churchill's version of the second World War is likely to dominate the writing of its history for many years to come," a belief still basically valid today.3 As this article