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.
#398084 in Books Summit Books 1991-10Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.52 x 6.41 x 1.26l; #File Name: 0671671529365 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A little known story as so little has been written ...By arlene alpertA little known story as so little has been written about attitudes of Italian Jews during Mussolini's rule... We learn of the colorful and dramatic lives and fate of several Jewish families. Just as had happened in Germany; Italian Jews thought they would be exempt from discrimination and persecution due to their longstanding loyalty to the Italian nation and participation in World War I...They tried to be exemplary fascists only to be murdered. when the Nazis took over. ..1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. a moving story of courage; survival and death at a time of evilBy John E. DruryIndividual Holocaust stories of death or survival unsettle and jar if told by a fine writer. It is the minutiae of daily life; the details of courage and the machinations of betrayal which impress in Alexander Stille’s 1991 book describing the varied fates of five Italian Jewish families (from Turin; Genoa; Rome and Ferrara) under Mussolini’s Fascism; under its perverse racial laws of the late thirties and in 1943 when the Nazis and SS took over the country.The author’s attention to detail; his depth of research; his structure and organization and his ability to tellingly present just the right anecdote which makes this superb history so compelling and so moving despite the obvious need to balance; and personalize; at least twenty names of victims; heroes and villains. Each family is localized; then described; then their lives are explained in the atmosphere of pre War fascist Italy. And; then their lives were destroyed; some survived; some escaped; some went underground (sheltered by the courage of the priests of Catholic Church); some hid in plain sight; most died. It is these finely crafted stories which make this book so special and which force the reader to identify with each story.Stille’s deftly places at the end of the book the Schönheits; father and son; bound together for survival in the concentration camp at Buchenwald; near Weimar; Germany. The horrors of the camp and the pair’s fight for survival is realistic and frightening. One anecdote merits repeating. In June; 1945; as they leave Buchenwald; Carlo; his father; a cantor; disappears only to be found by his son; Franco; at the crematorium reciting a special prayer for the dead; the Kaddish; saying to his son †I had to say at least one prayer for them before leaving.†One gasps at this coda.Stille’s superb epilogue on who few lived and who among the many died concludes the book.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Exceptional History of the PeriodBy Harvey RosenwasserThis book gives one a sense of Italy under Fascism just before and after Italy made their agreement with the Germans. Most history books tell of the exceptional events that shape events. This book relates the effect of Fascism on Jewish people who initially viewed Mussolini differently; but all ended up suffering the same fate. The writer is wonderful.
