In the tumultuous summer of 1940 Britain agreed to support defeated European nations to continue their war from exile. This hurried and unprecedented policy decision created an alliance of eight governments-in-exile, of which six were ultimately restored to power. The Anglo-exile relationship added considerably to British strength and prestige during the war and catalysed increased European unity afterwards. While limited scholarship has examined some individual government-in-exile experiences, no study has yet considered the British perspective of the Anglo-exile relationship, nor analysed how Britain’s exile policy was conceived, implemented, and adjusted in response to changing wartime pressures. This thesis examines Britain’s policy towards governments-in-exile in the Second World War, focussing on three questions: why Britain supported the exiles, how it did so, and whether it successfully achieved its aims. More broadly, this thesis analyses the development of Britain’s policy towards and relationship ...