A war to be won : fighting the Second World War / Williamson Murray, Allan R. Millett.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Murray, Williamson.

Contributor:

Millett, Allan Reed.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945.

History, Modern--20th century.

History, Modern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (736 p.)

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the course of the twentieth century, no war looms as profoundly transformative or as destructive as World War II. Its global scope and human toll reveal the true face of modern, industrialized warfare. Now, for the first time, we have a comprehensive, single-volume account of how and why this global conflict evolved as it did. A War To Be Won is a unique and powerful operational history of the Second World War that tells the full story of battle on land, on sea, and in the air. Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett analyze the operations and tactics that defined the conduct of the war in both the European and Pacific Theaters. Moving between the war room and the battlefield, we see how strategies were crafted and revised, and how the multitudes of combat troops struggled to discharge their orders. The authors present incisive portraits of the military leaders, on both sides of the struggle, demonstrating the ambiguities they faced, the opportunities they took, and those they missed. Throughout, we see the relationship between the actual operations of the war and their political and moral implications. A War To Be Won is the culmination of decades of research by two of America's premier military historians. It avoids a celebratory view of the war but preserves a profound respect for the problems the Allies faced and overcame as well as a realistic assessment of the Axis accomplishments and failures. It is the essential military history of World War II-from the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 to the surrender of Japan in 1945-for students, scholars, and general readers alike.

Contents:

Frontmatter

PREFACE

CONTENTS

MAPS

1 Origins of a Catastrophe

2 The Revolution in Military Operations, 1919-1939

3 German Designs, 1939-1940

4 Germany Triumphant, 1940

5 Diversions in the Mediterranean and Balkans, 1940-1941

6 Barbarossa, 1941

7 The Origins of the Asia-Pacific War, 1919-1941

8 The Japanese War of Conquest, 1941-1942

9 The Asia-Pacific War, 1942-1944

10 The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1943

11 Year of Decision for Germany, 1942

12 The Combined Bomber Offensive, 1941-1945

13 The Destruction of Japanese Naval Power, 1943-1944

14 The Killing Time, 1943-1944

15 The Invasion of France, 1944

16 The End in Europe, 1944-1945

17 The Destruction of the Japanese Empire, 1944-1945

18 The End of the Asia-Pacific War, 1945

19 Peoples at War, 1937-1945

20 The Aftermath of War

Epilogue: In Retrospect

Appendixes:

Notes

Suggested Reading

Acknowledgments

Illustration Credits

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 613-637) and index.

ISBN:

9780674041301

0674041305

OCLC:

923110675