The Storm of War - Andrew Roberts [0]
The Storm of War
A New History of the Second World War
ALLEN LANE
an imprint of
PENGUIN BOOKS
ALLEN LANE
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
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First published 2009
1
Copyright © Andrew Roberts, 2009
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All rights reserved
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book
ISBN: 978-0-14-193886-8
To the memory of Frank Johnson
(1943–2006)
I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.
Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 4 June 1940
Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Preface
Prelude: The Pact
PART I
Onslaught
1 Four Invasions: September 1939–April 1940
2 Führer Imperator: May–June 1940
3 Last Hope Island: June 1940–June 1941
4 Contesting the Littoral: September 1939–June 1942
5 Kicking in the Door: June–December 1941
6 Tokyo Typhoon: December 1941–May 1942
PART II
Climacteric
7 The Everlasting Shame of Mankind: 1939–1945
8 Five Minutes at Midway: June 1942–October 1944
9 Midnight in the Devil’s Gardens: July 1942–May 1943
10 The Motherland Overwhelms the Fatherland: January 1942–February 1943
11 The Waves of Air and Sea: 1939–1945
12 Up the Wasp-Waist Peninsula: July 1943–May 1945
PART III
Retribution
13 A Salient Reversal: March–August 1943
14 The Cruel Reality: 1939–1945
15 Norman Conquest: June–August 1944
16 Western Approaches: August 1944–March 1945
17 Eastern Approaches: August 1943–May 1945
18 Land of the Setting Sun: October 1944–September 1945
Conclusion: Why Did the Axis Lose the Second World War?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
List of Illustrations
1 General Werner von Blomberg and Adolf Hitler at Ulm in September 1933 (Getty Images)
2 The signing of the Nazi–Soviet Pact, 24 August 1939 (Topfoto)
3 Benito Mussolini, Hitler, Major-General Alfred Jodl and Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, 25 August 1941 (akg-images/ullstein bild)
4 Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, Keitel and SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler confering with Hitler, 10 April 1942 (akg-images)
5 Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt inspecting the Atlantic Wall, 18 April 1944 (akg-images)
6 Field Marshal Erich von Manstein (Bettmann/Corbis)
7 General Heinz Guderian (Topfoto)
8 Field Marshal Walter (Austrian Archives/Corbis)
9 Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive-bomber, 1940 (The Art Archive)
10 Refugees fleeing Paris, June 1940 (Getty Images)
11 Operation Dynamo, Dunkirk, May 1940 (Imperial War Museum, NYP – 68075)
12 Allied vehicles, arms, stores and ammunition disabled and left behind in France, 27 May 1940 (akg-images)
13 RAF and Luftwaffe