A world at arms: a global history of World War II

Gerhard L. Weinberg9780521443173, 0521443172, 0521558794

Beginning with the German invasion of Poland and concluding with the Japanese surrender, this majestic overview of WW II concentrates on the tactical decisions made by Allied and Axis leaders and the interrelationship among the various theaters. Weinberg ( The Foreign Policy of Hitler’s Germany ) depicts the struggle to control the oceans, the effort to halt the German and Japanese advances and the development of postwar plans which influenced the course of battle. In his well-documented study, Weinberg shows the linkage betwen grand strategy and diplomacy, highlights intelligence gathering and tactics. He describes how the conflict affected the economies and morale of the countries involved and offers a revised estimate of deaths and casualties suffered by the belligerents. Rich in content and sharply interpretive, Weinberg’s book is a stunning achievement. History Book Club main selection; BOMC dual selection.

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Table of contents :
A World at Arms……Page 1
Contents……Page 9
List of Maps……Page 11
Preface……Page 12
Abbreviations……Page 16
Introduction……Page 19
From One War to Another……Page 24
The War Against Poland……Page 66
The World Turned Upside Down……Page 140
The Expanding Conflict, 1940-1941……Page 205
The Eastern Front and a Changing War……Page 282
Halting the Japanese and the Germans……Page 328
The war at Sea, 1942-1944……Page 382
The war in Europe and North Africa 1942-1943……Page 426
The home front……Page 489
Means of warfare:old and new……Page 554
From the spring of 1943 to summer 1944……Page 605
The assault on Germany from all sides……Page 685
Tensions in both alliances……Page 740
The halt on the European fronts……Page 768
The final assault on Germany……Page 798
The war in the Pacific:from Leyte to the Missouri……Page 860
Bibliographic essay……Page 939
Notes……Page 963
Index……Page 1173