Product Description

On 2 August 1944, in the wake of the complete destruction of the German Army Group Centre in Belorussia, Winston Churchill mocked Adolf Hitler in the House of Commons by the rank he had reached in the First World War. ‘Russian success has been somewhat aided by the strategy of Herr Hitler, of Corporal Hitler,’ Churchill jibed. ‘Even military idiots find it difficult not to see some faults in his actions.’ Andrew Roberts’s previous book Masters and Commanders studied the creation of Allied grand strategy; The Storm of War now analyses how Axis strategy evolved. Examining the Second World War on every front, Roberts asks whether, with a different decision-making process and a different strategy, the Axis might even have won. Were those German generals who blamed everything on Hitler after the war correct, or were they merely scapegoating their former Führer once he was safely beyond defending himself? In researching this uniquely vivid history of the Second World War Roberts has walked many of the key battlefield and wartime sites of Russia, France, Italy, Germany and the Far East. The book is full of illuminating sidelights on the principle actors that bring their characters and the ways in which they reached decisions into fresh focus.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #202 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 816 pages

Review
'Andrew Roberts's latest offering is a sparkling addition to the groaning shelves. Roberts offers refreshing judgements' --Robert Service, Observer

'what might be his best book yet' --Nigel Jones, Sunday Telegraph

'His mastery of the huge variety of subjects is truly impressive and his ability to marshal these subjects into a single compelling narrative stunning' --Keith Lowe, Daily Telegraph

'he presents stylish penmanship, gritty research and lucid reasoning, coupled with poignant and haunting detours into private lives ruined and shortened' --The Economist

'tightly written, every page packed with terse comment, well-organised facts and, often, telling details. Engrossing to read'
--Paul Johnson, Spectator

About the Author
Andrew Roberts’s Masters and Commanders was one of the most acclaimed, bestselling history books of 2008. His previous books include Salisbury: Victorian Titan (1999), which won the Wolfson History Prize and the James Stern Silver Pen Award for Non-Fiction, Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership (2003), which coincided with four-part BBC2 history series. He is one of Britain's most prominent journalists and broadcasters.