Blood and ruins : the last imperial war, 1931-1945 / Richard Overy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Overy, R. J., author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945.

Imperialism.

Physical Description:

xxvii, 990 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First North American edition.

Other Title:

Last imperial war, 1931-1945

Place of Publication:

[New York] : Viking, 2022.

Summary:

"A thought-provoking and original reassessment of World War II, from Britain's leading military historian Richard Overy sets out in Blood and Ruins to recast the way in which we view the Second World War and its origins and aftermath. As one of Britain's most decorated and respected World War II historians, he argues that this was the "last imperial war," with almost a century-long lead-up of global imperial expansion, which reached its peak in the territorial ambitions of Italy, Germany and Japan in the 1930s and early 1940s, before descending into the largest and costliest war in human history and the end, after 1945, of all territorial empires. Overy also argues for a more global perspective on the war, one that looks broader than the typical focus on military conflict between the Allied and Axis states. Above all, Overy explains the bitter cost for those involved in fighting, and the exceptional level of crime and atrocity that marked the war and its protracted aftermath--which extended far beyond 1945. Blood and Ruins is a masterpiece, a new and definitive look at the ultimate struggle over the future of the global order, which will compel us to view the war in novel and unfamiliar ways. Thought-provoking, original and challenging, Blood and Ruins sets out to understand the war anew"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Prologue: 'Blood and ruins'

the age of imperial war

Nation-empires and global crisis, 1931-40

Imperial fantasies, imperial realities, 1940-43

The death of the nation-empire, 1942-45

Mobilizing a total war

Fighting the war

War economies: economies at war

Just wars? Unjust wars?

Civilian wars

The emotional geography of war

Crimes and atrocities

Empires into nations: a different global age.

Notes:

"First published in hardcover in Great Britain by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Random House Ltd., London, in 2021"--Title page verso

"Maps (p. xxx-xliii)"--Page xxiv

Includes bibliographical references (pages 879-955) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Overy, Richard. Blood and ruins.

ISBN:

9780670025169

067002516X

OCLC:

1293449973