Copyright Copyright © 2017 by Victor Davis Hanson Hachette Book Group supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. Basic Books Hachette Book Group 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104 www.basicbooks.com First Edition: October 2017 Published by Basic Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hanson, Victor Davis, author. Title: The second world wars : how the first global conflict was fought and won / Victor Davis Hanson. Description: New York, NY : Basic Books, an imprint of Perseus Books, LLC., a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc., 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017024227| ISBN 9780465066988 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780465093199 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: World War, 1939–1945. | World War, 9780465093199 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: World War, 1939–1945. | World War, 1939–1945—Campaigns. Classification: LCC D743 .H329 2017 | DDC 940.54—dc23 \LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017024227 E3-20170923-JV-PC Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Epigraph List of Maps Preface PART ONE. IDEAS 1. The War in a Classical Context 2. Grievances, Agendas, and Methods 3. Old, New, and Strange Alliances PART TWO. AIR 4. The Air Power Revolution 5. From Poland to the Pacific 6. New Terrors from Above PART THREE. WATER 7. Ships and Strategies 8. From the Atlantic to the Mediterranean 9. A Vast Ocean PART FOUR. EARTH 10. The Primacy of Infantry 11. Soldiers and Armies 12. The Western and Eastern Wars for the Continent 13. Armies Abroad 14. Sieges PART FIVE. FIRE 15. Tanks and Artillery PART SIX. PEOPLE 16. Supreme Command 17. The Warlords 18. The Workers 19. The Dead PART SEVEN. ENDS 20. Why and What Did the Allies Win? About the Author Also by Victor Davis Hanson More advance praise for The Second World Wars Works Cited Notes Index For Susannah Merry Hanson (1986–2014) Amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla. Maps Map 1 Growth of the Third Reich, 1933–1941 Map 2 Expansion of Imperial Japan, 1932–1941 Map 3 Strategic Bombing in Europe Map 4 Strategic Bombing in the Pacific Map 5 The Battle of the Atlantic Map 6 Major Naval Battles in the Mediterranean Map 7 Major Naval Battles in the Pacific Map 8 Blitzkrieg in France Map 9 Soviet Advances on the Eastern Front, 1943–1944 Map 10 North African Campaigns Map 11 Allied Advances on the Western Front, 1944 Map 12 The Fall of Germany, 1945 Map 13 Allied Advances in the Pacific Theater Map 14 The Siege of Leningrad Map 15 The Relative GDP of the Major Allied and Axis Powers, 1938–1945 Map 16 The Borders of Germany in 1937 and 1945