Farmer Alan. Understand the Second World War

Teach Yourself, 2011. — 292 p.Charting the main military campaigns, this book examines the path to Allied victory and its impact on the countries involved. It explores such questions as Why did Hitler declare war on the U.S.? Why did the Allied powers out-produce the Axis powers? Who was the most effective leader? Should American and British strategy have been different? and Should the U.S. have dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? This engaging alternative to traditional textbooks includes discussion of the contemporary significance of the war.The origins
The Versailles settlement
Troubled peace 1919 — 33
The coming of war 1937 — 9Blitzkrieg
The conquest of Poland
The phoney war
The defeat of FranceBritain alone
The Battle of Britain
The search for allies
Italy at war
The Balkans and the east MediterraneanOperation Barbarossa
Why did Hitler launch Operation Barbarossa?
Operation Barbarossa June-July 1941
Operation Barbarossa August 1941 — January 1942Pearl Harbor
Japanese expansion 1931 — 9
Japanese-American relations
US policy 1940 — 1
Pearl HarborThe turning of the tide
Japanese expansion 1941 — 2
The war in North Africa 1941 — 2
The Eastern Front 1942 — 3Axis retreat 1943 — 4
North Africa 1943
The invasions of Sicily and Italy
Russia 1943 — 4
The Pacific 1943 — 4Resistance and collaboration
Hitler's 'New Order'
Barbarism in eastern Europe
Resistance in Europe
The 'New Order' in AsiaThe Holocaust
Nazi treatment of Jews 1933 — 41
Genocide
Who was to blame?War at sea and in the air
The Battle of the Atlantic 1939 — 42
Allied victory in the Atlantic 1943 — 5
The strategic bombing of Germany
Strategic bombing 1939-42
The combined bomber offensive 1943 — 5German defeat 1944 — 5
D-Day
The Western Front September 1944 — January 1945
Operation Bagration
The end of the Third ReichThe defeat of Japan 1944 — 5
Burma and China 1944 — 5
The Marianas and the Philippines 1944 — 5
lwo Jima and Okinawa
Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Japanese surrenderWhy did the Allies win?
National morale
Resources
Technology
Intelligence and deception
Leadership
Co-operationConsequences
The cost of the war
Peace (and war)
Some results of the war
The Axis powers