Product Description

As Richard Overy makes clear, the Allied victory in 1945 - though comprehensive - was far from inevitable. By 1942, almost the entire resources of continental Europe were in German hands and Japan had wiped out the western colonial presence in Asia. Democracy appeared to have had its day. Overy provides a re-interpretation of the war through an account of the decisive military campaigns that created the astonishing revival in Allied fortunes. He also explores the deeper factors that determined success and failure: industrial strength, fighting ability, the skills of leaders and the moral contrasts between the two sides. Today, the modern world is once more in the throes of painful transformation. It is essential to establish why and how the last great war was won. Richard Overy casts a brilliant light on the most important turning-point of the modern age.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #158874 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

The Guardian pb choice
'I certainly found it an eye-opener, a familiar story now told
from a different, but still illuminating angle"

Good Book Guide
A wise man's view of the world war

From the Publisher
'Outstanding... Overy has written a masterpiece of analytical history, posing and answering one of the great questions of the century.' Niall Ferguson, Sunday Times

Customer Reviews

Great analysis of a wideranging subject
Richard Overy's book is a very good example of a strong analysis of the Second World War.

A couple of things, I am missing in his account of the allied victory is two things. One is the role of intelligence, which he himself writes that he do not attribute to having a war-winning effect, and therefore do not single out, but instead mentioning it, when it is important, to his account. I don't think that you can underestimate the value of allied intelligence. The Soviet union had througout the war very good direct and indirect sources as regards German military planning. I Overy puts to little emphasis on this.

Another thing is that Overy puts emphasis on the importance of the weather in the context of D-Day, but he doesn't do it in relation to the Eastern front. There is no doubt that "General Mud" and "General Winter" played a very important role in slowing down the German offensive on the Eastern front.

It is also a very sweeping statement that "he (Hitler) did not consider economics as central to the war effort." (p. 206) Hitler put a very strong emphasis on certain aspects of war economics for instance raw materials. He stopped the advance on Moscow in 1941 and didn't repeat in 1942 because he wanted to focus on the natural wealth of the Ukraine and the Caucasus, and in this context said that "His generals didn't understand the economics of war". He even talked about the reconquest of the Rumanian oil wells in the Bunker in 1945. Eventually, neither Hitler nor his generals had a deep understanding of the essentials of the war economy such as mass production etc., which is also mentioned by Overy.

And all in all, a very good book, which also gave me new information for instance of the effect of allied air power.

How luck, bravery, tenancity and massive economic power won
If you thought Montogomery was a fool or Churchill a master strategist then read this. This book examines the key battlefields (Overy is, as usual, superb in his account of the Eastern front) on land and sea, the leaders and the economic background. He vindicates bombing, Zhukov and Montgomery but makes Churchill look rather out-of-touch. Occassionally too terse - the key moments of the war in the Pacific are dealt with in a couple of hundred words - at others rather long winded (such as in his admiration of the Soviet planning system). But well worth buying.

Not the obvoius answer you would expect
When my father lent me this book i was initally dismissive reagrding the contents given the title as the answer appeared obvious. However, this book seeks to dispell many assumptions reagrding the allies victory being inevitable. It is full of facinating strategic military insights as well as containing quite staggering statistics regarding the output of the military powers and their inherent strengths and weaknesses. For instance the German war industry was fastidious to the point of inefficiency, whereas, the United states based on the principles of mass production turned the economy around to military production so quickly that the Ford motor company produced more arnaments than Italy as a whole! Well worth investigating.