Synopses & Reviews
In the course of the twentieth century, no war looms as profoundly transformative or as destructive as World War II. Its global scope and human toll reveal the true face of modern, industrialized warfare. Now, for the first time, we have a comprehensive, single-volume account of how and why this global conflict evolved as it did. A War To Be Won is a unique and powerful operational history of the Second World War that tells the full story of battle on land, on sea, and in the air. Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett analyze the operations and tactics that defined the conduct of the war in both the European and Pacific Theaters. Moving between the war room and the battlefield, we see how strategies were crafted and revised, and how the multitudes of combat troops struggled to discharge their orders. The authors present incisive portraits of the military leaders, on both sides of the struggle, demonstrating the ambiguities they faced, the opportunities they took, and those they missed. Throughout, we see the relationship between the actual operations of the war and their political and moral implications. A War To Be Won is the culmination of decades of research by two of America's premier military historians. It avoids a celebratory view of the war but preserves a profound respect for the problems the Allies faced and overcame as well as a realistic assessment of the Axis accomplishments and failures. It is the essential military history of World War II--from the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 to the surrender of Japan in 1945--for students, scholars, and general readers alike.
Review
Military historians Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett dissect tactics and operations of the war's major players in A War To Be Won...Unlike other volumes on WWII, many of which examine the soldiers' day-to-day life in the trenches, A War To Be Wonfocuses on the overall picture, the strategic successes and failures of the warring nations.
Review
Military historians Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett dissect tactics and operations of the war's major players in A War To Be Won...Unlike other volumes on WWII, many ofwhich examine the soldiers' day-to-day life in the trenches, A War To Be Wonfocuses on the overall picture, the strategic successes and failures of the warring nations.
Review
A magisterial, hypnotically detailed tactical narrative of WWII, with competing military, political, and social histories of the maelstrom writ large--yet comprehensibly presented...Coauthors Murray and Millett spent decades on their research, and the result is an essential plurality of understanding that allows them to consider the military strategies (and underlying realities) of the various Allied and Axis nations. Intentionally or otherwise, this book covers ground distinct from Stephen Ambrose's popular books, in that they focus much less on the personalized experiences of the soldier and more on the significant strategies, decisions, and movements of governments and generals (and the corresponding actions of the many individual naval, combat, and bomber units, and sundry partisan and espionage triumphs) that taken together, form the artificial patchwork of industrialized devastation we think of as the war. Surprisingly, this 'globalized' perspective does produce abstract or diffuse results, but allows the authors to present a nuanced panorama of scarce information and unique interpretation...Strongly written with the stern clarity of senior historians, this is a spellbinding history: the reader will hear the whine of the bombers and see the guttering lights of Europe, and find this rich assemblage of horror and destiny hard to set down.
Review
"This is edgy, though expert, history.
Robert Killebrew, Washington Post"
Review
Military historians Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett dissect tactics and operations of the war's major players in A War To Be Won...Unlike other volumes on WWII, many ofwhich examine the soldiers' day-to-day life in the trenches, A War To Be Wonfocuses on the overall picture, the strategic successes and failures of the warring nations.
Review
A magisterial, hypnotically detailed tactical narrative of WWII, with competing military, political, and social histories of the maelstrom writ large--yet comprehensibly presented...Coauthors Murray and Millett spent decades on their research, and the result is an essential plurality of understanding that allows them to consider the military strategies (and underlying realities) of the various Allied and Axis nations. Intentionally or otherwise, this book covers ground distinct from Stephen Ambrose's popular books, in that they focus much less on the personalized experiences of the soldier and more on the significant strategies, decisions, and movements of governments and generals (and the corresponding actions of the many individual naval, combat, and bomber units, and sundry partisan and espionage triumphs) that taken together, form the artificial patchwork of industrialized devastation we think of as the war. Surprisingly, this 'globalized' perspective does produce abstract or diffuse results, but allows the authors to present a nuanced panorama of scarce information and unique interpretation...Strongly written with the stern clarity of senior historians, this is a spellbinding history: the reader will hear the whine of the bombers and see the guttering lights of Europe, and find this rich assemblage of horror and destiny hard to set down.
Review
World War II is fast slipping from memory. So it takes a book, such as
Review
Two highly accomplished historians...collaborated to produce this magnificent one-volume history of World War II. While they do not neglect political or economic factors, what truly sets this work apart is their focus on 'the conduct of operations by the military organizations that waged the war.'...this is a riveting book that stimulates as much as it informs--and is a must read for any student of World War II or military professional.
Review
A War to be Won, confined within a single volume, is a remarkable achievement deserving of the many plaudits it has received. It has a narrative deftness that will attract the general reader, operational analysis incisive and original enough to engage the specialist, technical evaluation and tactical appraisal of military effectiveness in abundance, though not without controversial, even acerbic comment where appropriate.
Review
Without question A War To Be Wonis the most compelling single volume history of the Second World War ever written. Murray and Millett are superb historians imbued with a trenchant gift for analysis, detachment and synthesis. A noble, grand, and sweeping achievement.
Review
A magisterial, hypnotically detailed tactical narrative of WWII, with competing military, political, and social histories of the maelstrom writ large--yet comprehensibly presented...Coauthors Murray and Millett spent decades on their research, and the result is an essential plurality of understanding that allows them to consider the military strategies (and underlying realities) of the various Allied and Axis nations. Intentionally or otherwise, this book covers ground distinct from Stephen Ambrose's popular books, in that they focus much less on the personalized experiences of the soldier and more on the significant strategies, decisions, and movements of governments and generals (and the corresponding actions of the many individual naval, combat, and bomber units, and sundry partisan and espionage triumphs) that taken together, form the artificial patchwork of industrialized devastation we think of as the war. Surprisingly, this 'globalized' perspective does produce abstract or diffuse results, but allows the authors to present a nuanced panorama of scarce information and unique interpretation...Strongly written with the stern clarity of senior historians, this is a spellbinding history: the reader will hear the whine of the bombers and see the guttering lights of Europe, and find this rich assemblage of horror and destiny hard to set down.
Review
Military historians Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett dissect tactics and operations of the war's major players in A War To Be Won...Unlike other volumes on WWII, many of which examine the soldiers' day-to-day life in the trenches, A War To Be Wonfocuses on the overall picture, the strategic successes and failures of the warring nations.
Review
An outstanding single-volume history of [a] central moment...[The authors] write in a brisk, confident and knowledgeable style, often sprinkling their analyses with pithy irony, sardonic wit and sharpinsights...Murray and Millett have produced a magnificent volume, one that will fascinate and enlighten both expert and layman alike. A War to Be Won now takes its place as the core volume in any library on the history of the SecondWorld War, and it will likely remain so for years to come.
Review
Without question A War To Be Wonis the most compelling single volume history of the Second World War ever written. Murray and Millett are superb historians imbued with a trenchant gift for analysis, detachment and synthesis. A noble, grand, and sweeping achievement.
Review
The West's eventual triumph is the subject of A War To Be Won, a comprehensive and highly readable history by two eminent and prolific military historians. Williamson Murray and Allan Millett focus on operations but range far and wide into politics, strategy, military doctrines (why armies fight the way they do), weapons, science and tactics, from the bumbling politics of the '30s to the Cold War... This is edgy, though expert, history. The ordeal of the Soviet war against Germany is dramatically and vividly told, as is the pillage and rape that Red Army soldiers inflicted on prisoners and civilians within reach. Robert Killebrew
Synopsis
The culmination of decades of research by premier military historians, A War To Be Won is the first comprehensive, single-volume account of how and why World War II evolved as it did. Moving between the war room and the battlefield, we see how strategies were crafted and revised, and how the multitudes of combat troops struggled to discharge their orders. It is the essential military history of World War II, from the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 to the surrender of Japan in 1945.
About the Author
Williamson Murray is Senior Fellow at the Institute for Defense Analysis, Washington, D.C.
University of New Orleans
Table of Contents
- 1. Origins of a Catastrophe
- 2. The Revolution in Military Operations, 1919–1939
- 3. German Designs, 1939–1940
- 4. Germany Triumphant, 1940
- 5. Diversions in the Mediterranean and Balkans, 1940–1941
- 6. Barbarossa, 1941
- 7. The Origins of the Asia-Pacific War, 1919–1941
- 8. The Japanese War of Conquest, 1941–1942
- 9. The Asia-Pacific War, 1942–1944
- 10. The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939–1943
- 11. Year of Decision for Germany, 1942
- 12. The Combined Bomber Offensive, 1941—1945
- 13. The Destruction of Japanese Naval Power, 1943–1944
- 14. The Killing Time, 1943–1944
- 15. The Invasion of France, 1944
- 16. The End in Europe, 1944–1945
- 17. The Destruction of the Japanese Empire, 1944–1945
- 18. The End of the Asia-Pacific War, 1945
- 19. Peoples at War, 1937–1945
- 20. The Aftermath of War
- Epilogue: In Retrospect
- Appendixes
- 1. Military Organization
- 2. The Conduct of War
- 3. Weapons
- 4. Exploring World War II
- Notes
- Suggested Reading
- Acknowledgments
- Illustration Credits
- Index