Full Description
This text contrasts 21 World War II battle plans with their actual outcome. Each in-depth battle essay is complemented by original maps, producing fresh insight into the technical aspects of warfare that drove the last worldwide conflict of the 20th century. An overall introduction gives a strategic overview of the whole of the war, and places the individual battles into context. The battles are presented in seven groups of three, and each group is introduced by a short essay on the common theme for the group.
Contents
Part 1 The armoured Blitzkriegs: the fall of France 1940 - Blitzkrieg in the west; the battle of Gazala 1942 - Rommel's masterpiece; Bagration 1944 - the Soviet sledgehammer. Part 2 The amphibious landings: Anzio 1944 - the stranded whale; D-Day 1944 - the longest day; Iwo Jima 1945 - hell in the Pacific. Part 3 The slogging matches: Barbarossa 1941 - to the gates of Moscow; second Alamein 1942 - hitting them for six; Kursk 1943 - cauldron of armour. Part 4 The airpower factor: the Battle of Britain 1940 - spitfire summer; the Schweinfurt raid 1942 - America's worst day; Monte Cassino 1944 - victory through airpower?. Part 5 The war at sea: sink the Bismark! 1941 - battle in the Atlantic; Pearl Harbour 1941 - strike from the sea; Operation Pedastal 1942 - the Malta convoy. Part 6 The airborne assaults: Crete 1941 - the Pyrrhic victory; Operation Market-Garden 1944 - the bridge at Arnhem; Operation Thursday 1944 - Wingate and the Chindits. Part 7 The city battles: Stalingrad 1942 - the city of the sword; Manilla 1945 - MacArthur's return; Berlin 1945 - the final battle.
