Why the Allies Won by Richard Overy

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Although the Allied victory in 1945 today seems inevitable, in fact it was not. Here is a brilliant analysis of the factors that turned things around -- from important military victories on the eastern front to industrial strength, fighting ability, the quality of leadership, and the moral dimensions of the war. Black-and-white photos.

From the Publisher

It is 1942. Germany controls almost the entire resources of continental Europe and is poised to move into the Middle East. Japan has wiped out the western colonial presence in East Asia in a couple of months and is threatening northern India and Australia. The Soviet Union has lost the heart of its industry, and the United States is not yet armed. Democracy has had its day. The Allied victory in 1945 has since come to seem inevitable. It was not. In Richard Overy's incisive analysis, we see exactly how the Allies regained military superiority and why they were able to do it. Overy offers a brilliant analysis of the decisive campaigns: the war at sea, the crucial battles on the eastern front, the air war, and the vast amphibious assault on Europe. The eastern front was critical. Having lost four million men and tens of thousands of tanks and aircraft in the first six months of fighting, the Soviet Union was able to relocate its industrial base to the east, intensify its industrial production, and defeat the German forces at Stalingrad and Kursk. This was the turning point, the victory of one authoritarian system over another. Overy also explores the deeper factors affecting military success and failure: industrial strength, fighting ability, the quality of leadership, and the moral dimensions of the war.

Publishers Weekly

The author explores the moral component of the Allies' efforts in World War II. (May)

Library Journal

As an acclaimed scholar and professor of modern history, Overy (The Road to War, LJ 5/1/90) has crafted an expansive and skillful analysis of the complex reasons for the Allied victory over the Axis powers in 1945. His book debunks the exaggerated and too-simple reason for Allied victory-that material strength alone merely overwhelmed the enemy. Using clear narrative and sound reasoning, Overy explores the impact of four significant areas of combat as well as the less publicized but equally important noncombat contributions and mistakes of each warring nation. As Overy asserts, "There was nothing preordained about Allied success," and his analysis starkly reveals the narrow line between victory and defeat for both sides. An excellent book for students, scholars, and history buffs.-Col. William D. Bushnell, USMC (ret.), Brunswick, Me.

Kirkus Reviews

Was the Allied victory in WW II an inevitable triumph of good over evil? No, says Overy (History/King's College, London; The Air War: 19391945, 1981, etc.), in this incisive analysis of the factors that led to victory over Germany, Italy, and Japan.

In early 1942, Overy points out, the Axis powers were triumphant in every world theater. Japan had, in a single blow, crippled Allied fleets, had conquered all the Pacific islands within a 1,000-mile perimeter, and was threatening an apparently defenseless Australia. Germany had conquered much of Europe and had inflicted devastating, losses on the Soviet Union. Britain was prostrate, its lifelines threatened by relentless U-boat attacks. The US had yet to mount an armament program, and the Soviet Union seemed industrially exhausted. Yet by 1944 Allied victory was simply a matter of time. Overy explains this remarkable reversal of fortune by reviewing Allied success in each of four zones: the sea war, in which the Allies capitalized on vast US and British fleets, shrewd use of airplanes at sea, and superior intelligence; the Soviet victory on the Eastern front, where Hitler underestimated both the fighting spirit and the renewed production potential of the Soviets; the air war, in which Allied long-range bombing forced the Germans to fight the last two years of the war without air support; and the reconquest of Europe after the D-Day invasion, which sealed Hitler's fate. Overy also analyzes the superior control of resources by the Allies, the combat effectiveness of Allied and Axis troops, the leadership of the two sides, and the moral contrasts between them. He concludes that "the Allies won . . . because they turned their economic strength into effective fighting power, and turned the moral energies of their people into an effective will to win."

A cogent look at the 20th century's great turning point.

Product Details

• ISBN: 039331619X
  
• ISBN-13: 9780393316193
• Format: Paperback, 428pp
• Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
• Pub. Date: January 1997
• Edition Description: Reprint
• Sales Rank: 82,250

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents