Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; 1. From one war to another; 2. The German and Soviet attacks on Poland; 3. The world turned upside down; 4. The expanding conflict; 5. The Eastern Front and a changing war; 6. Halting the Japanese advance, halting the German advance: keeping them apart and shifting the balance; 7. The war at sea 1942–44 and the blockade; 8. The war in Europe and North Africa 1940–43: to and from Stalingrad, to and from Tunis; 9. The Home Front; 10. Means of warfare: old and new; 11. The war from the spring of 1943 to summer 1944; 12. The assault on Germany from all sides; 13. Tensions in both alliances; 14. The halt on the European fronts; 15. The final assault on Germany; 16. The war in the Pacific: from Leyte to the 'Missouri'; Conclusions: the cost and impact of the war; Abbreviations; Bibliographic essay; Endnotes; Index.

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A survey of all aspects of World War II from a global perspective, based on new archival information.

Reviews

'Few historians could have taken on the daunting challenge of attempting a global history of the Second World War; but Gerhard Weinberg succeeds brilliantly. It is a masterly study which is unlikely to be surpassed.' Ian Kershaw, University of Sheffield

'Weinberg's book is a clearly-written account of events, with enormous … reliable encyclopaedic summaries of anything about which you need to know.' Norman Stone, The Times

'… a remarkable achievement … It certainly deserves to be placed alongside the war histories of John Keegan, Martin Gilbert and A. J. P. Taylor. As a sheer work of reference it outclasses even them.' Andrew Roberts, The Sunday Telegraph

'This is a tour de force; classical diplomatic history at its best. Weinberg's global view of the war pays dividends again and again … '. David Reynolds, New York Times

'This is an extraordinary book … an invaluable source for anyone needing in one place as many ideas as possible abut the Second World War … Moral and humane feelings underpin his copious scholarship at every point, giving admirable depth and dimension to this monumental intellectual performance.' The Washington Post

'… fully lives up to its subsidiary title and to the claims made by its publishers. This is a first class strategic history of the war.' The British Army Review

'… a coherent - in fact, hypnotic - narrative offered up in a single, handsome volume … surely the finest one-volume history we have of the most important event of the century.' American Heritage

'… a blockbuster of a survey, grounded, to a remarkable extent for so large a work, in primary sources and also in an evident mastery of the secondary literature. It is a joy to read: lively, vigorous, and...altogether a stylistic gem … [it] offers refreshingly forthright judgments on every major aspect of World War II strategy and policy.' Naval War College Review