The Great World War 1914-45: Volume I: Lightning Strikes Twice - Hardcover

A volume of immense international scholarship, "The Great World War 1914-45" asks the question: Rather than two separate wars, should not the whole period between 1914 and 1945 be recognized as one "Great War," a conflict that was not resolved until the extinction of German military ambition? In this first volume, twenty eminent historians offer a work of rich collaboration. They compare and contrast frontline combat, from the Somme to Stalingrad, and aerial warfare, from "Bloody April" to the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot." Naval campaigns, jungle and desert warfare, and amphibious operations are also examined as are the successes and failures of national strategies. Away from the battlefields, they investigate the civilian's experience of war, national economic policies, and the "barbarization of warfare" that so marred the first half of the 20th century. A groundbreaking work of military history.

Operating under the premise that the World Wars I and II were actually parts of the same huge conflict, 38 historians have written 33 chapters comparing the two wars. There are chapters on occupation and genocide, war in the air and undersea, POWs, casualties, and the experience of killing. The chapters on the national and military leadership (e.g., Churchill and Lloyd George, Hitler and the Kaiser) offer the most direct comparisons. The biggest difference, of course, was the relatively stable (but incredibly deadly) trench warfare of 1914-18, unlike the 1939-45 period, which was notable for its immense geographic scope, the number of troops involved, and mobile operations (land, air, and sea). The aim of this book is "to demonstrate the diversity of personal experience in the two world wars," primarily in the uniformed services. The next volume will cover the national experiences of countries and the role of civilians. There is no bibliography, but notes are found at the end of the chapters. There is a glaring lack of maps, which would have been helpful. Suitable for the military history collections of both public and academic libraries. Daniel K. Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL
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