Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

1 The Crisis of the Old World Order 7

2 The Great Depression and the Opening Guns of World War II 21

3 1940: Axis Victories and New Strategic Choices 43

4 1941–1942: Axis Flood Tide 65

5 1942–1943: Turning Points 87

6 War Economies 107

7 1943: Total War and the Emerging Contours of the Postwar World 133

8 1944: The Allies March Towards Victory 155

9 1945: The War Ends, Fighting Continues 181

10 War and Postwar, 1945–1953 201

Epilogue 227

Index 231

About the Author

ANDREW N. BUCHANAN is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Vermont. A specialist in Global and Military history, he is the author of American Grand Strategy in the Mediterranean during World War II and has published articles on World War II in the Journal of Contemporary History, Diplomacy and Statecraft, Journal of Transatlantic Studies, Global War Studies, and American Quarterly.

Reviews

"This [text] is [a] considerable achievement...Buchanan has successfully produced a 'grand narrative' account of the complex, multi-faceted, and truly global period we persist in calling the 'Second World War.'...It is a master-class of information management and writing with concision and clarity."  - Ashley Jackson, Professor of Imperial and Military History, King's College London

"This lively, synthetic account of World War II as a global war...brings forth a wealth of engaging detail, brims with moments of revelation, and distinguishes itself by digesting the macrocosmic stakes of the war, while also moving past the major powers and battles into the texture of the war as it unfolded in a variety of nations and colonies, from Finland to Libya, Brazil to India, [and] Algeria to Belgade." - Andrew Friedman, Associate Professor of History, Haverford College