The Road to War PDF
Preview The Road to War
THE ROAD TO 7 REVISED AND UPDATED EDITION Boston Public Library PENGUIN BOOKS THE ROAD TO WAR 'For a brief and fair description of the origins of the conflict that consumed the world from 1939 to 1945 - and even beyond - this book could hardly be bettered' Modern HistoryReview 'The authors combine compassion with understanding, to make sound historical sense' Economist 'Without reservation ... I rate this as one ofthe best books I have read about this great conflict . . . meticulously researched ... It is filled with eye-opening revelations and cleverly structured analyses ofhow mankind's greatest tragedy came about' Military Review 'The Road to Waranswers many ofthe questions on the origins of thewar well-argued, well-written andwell-researched. Both . . . . . . militarists andpacifists canputitsafely in their mental haversacks' Desmond Albrow, CatholicHerald ABOUT THE AUTHORS Richard Overy is Professor of Modern History at King's College, London. His most recent books include Why the Allies Won, The Penguin Atlas ofthe Third Reich and, also in Penguin, the highly praised Russia's War. He is currently writing a history ofthe Nazi economy and the Oxford historyofthe Second WorldWar. AndrewWheatcroftwaseducatedatStJohn'sSchool,Leatherhead, Christ's College, Cambridge, and the University of Madrid. He is the author of many books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century history,includingTheOttomans(Penguin,1995)andTheHabsburgs (Penguin, 1996). HeisbasedinDumfriesshire,Scotland,andteaches in theDepartmentofEnglish atthe University ofStirling. RICHARD OVERY WITH ANDREW WHEATCROFT The Road War to Revised and updated edition PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUINBOOKS PublishedbythePenguinGroup PenguinBooksLtd,27WrightsLane,Londonw85TZ,England PenguinPutnamInc.,375HudsonStreet,NewYork,NewYork10014,USA PenguinBooksAustraliaLtd,Ringwood,Victoria,Australia PenguinBooksCanadaLtd,10AlcornAvenue,Toronto,Ontario,CanadaM4V3B2 PenguinBooks(NZ)Ltd,PrivateBag102902,NSMC,Auckland,NewZealand PenguinBooksLtd,RegisteredOffices:Harmondsworth,Middlesex,England FirstpublishedbyMacmillanLondonLtdandBBCBooks1989 SecondeditionpublishedinPenguinBooks1999 13579 8642 10 Copyright©RichardOverywithAndrewWheatcroft,1989,1999 Allrightsreserved Themoralrightoftheauthorshasbeenasserted Setin10/12.5MonotypeSabon TypesetbyRowlandPhototypesettingLtd,BuryStEdmunds,Suffolk PrintedinEnglandbyClaysLtd,StIvespic ExceptintheUnitedStatesofAmerica,thisbookissoldsubject totheconditionthatitshallnot,bywayoftradeorotherwise,belent, re-sold,hiredout,orotherwisecirculatedwithoutthepublisher's priorconsentinanyformofbindingorcoverotherthanthatin whichitispublishedandwithoutasimilarconditionincludingthis conditionbeingimposedonthesubsequentpurchaser BR BR D741 .085 1999 Contents Acknowledgements vii List ofMaps ix List ofIllustrations xi Preface XV Preface to the Second Edition xviii Introduction: 'Who Will Die for Danzig?' i Germany i 2-5 2 Great Britain 73 3 France IZI 4 Italy 164 5 The Soviet Union ZIO 6 Japan 258 7 The United States 298 Conclusion: 'A War ofGreat Proportions' 344 Appendix: Comparative Military Expenditure and Military Strength 367 References 371 Select Bibliography 405 Index 427 Acknowledgements In the course of writing this book we have accumulated a great variety of debts which more than deserve our acknowledgement. We owe a very great deal to Gill Coleridge, whose enthusiasm for the project from the outset sustained us through its treacherous foothills and beyond. Our editor, Adam Sisman, has shown the sameenthusiasmand akeeneditorialeye, andthebookisthebetter forhisgentlyprofferedrecommendations.MalcolmPorterdrewthe maps under great pressure oftime, for which we are very grateful. The book has grown side by side, in a happy symbiosis, with the documentary series, which bears the same name and carries the same structure as the book. A special acknowledgement must be given to the BBC team on The Road to War who have turned a complex academic conception into very watchable television; in particular Tim Gardam and Peter Pagnamenta for launching the series,andHughPurcell,DenysBlakeway,ChrisWarren,BillJones, Richard Vaughan, Angus MacQueen, Marisa Apugliese and Sally- Ann Kleibel for bringing it to fruition. We have argued points backwards and forwards and the book has benefited a great deal from the exercise. Any faults that remain are our own. The Road to War is written with the co-operation of the BBC production team but the views expressed in it are those of the authors. We are grateful to the Imperial War Museum and the staff of the Photographic Department for help in locating images and for per- mission to reproduce them. We are also grateful to Birmingham University Library forpermission to quote from the Neville Cham- berlain papers. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work was divided on lines that followed our particular expertise.RichardOverywrotechaptersi,2,3,5,7andtheintroduc- tion and conclusion; Andrew Wheatcroft wrote chapter 6; chapter 4 was written jointly. The revisions for the second edition were carried out by Richard Overy.
The list of books you might like
