Book excerpt: When the Second World War started, the countries that made up the British Commonwealth agreed that if Britain was forced to surrender, the Dominions would carry on the war by themselves. On June 19, 1940, the unthinkable happened and Britain was forced out of the war. The Commonwealth was left on its own and has to shoulder the burder of fighting Germany without the center of Commonwealth military, economic and political power. In a world now full of unexpected enemies and unlikely friends, the Commonwealth faces a desperate struggle to survive.