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The Allies strike back, 1941-1943 / James Holland.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Holland, James, War in the West ; Publisher: New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2017Edition: First Grove Atlantic hardcover editionDescription: XXVI, 720 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780802125606
  • 0802125603
Subject(s):
Contents:
Part I. America enters the war -- The largest clash of arms -- Manoeuvring -- Summer '41 -- The US Navy goes to war -- The sinking of the Reuben James -- Crusaders -- Unraveling -- World war -- Part II. Eastern influences -- Battles at sea -- Strategic blunders -- Carnage off America -- Fighters and bombers -- Steel and strategy -- Seeds of resistance -- Heat and dust -- Into the cauldron -- Combined production -- The fall of Tobruk -- Sea and sand -- Thousand bomber raid -- Sea and steppe -- Gathering strength -- Last chance in Africa -- The end of the German dream -- Part III. The Allies strike back -- A brief discourse on tanks and fire-power -- A brief discourse on training and morale -- Return of the hero -- Getting ready -- The vicious circle -- Lighting the torch -- Lightfoot -- Supercharge -- Cutting losses -- Invasion -- Part IV. Crushing the wolfpacks -- The blackest month -- Setbacks -- Year end -- The critical theatre -- Living dangerously -- Frühlingswind -- Heavy water -- Regaining the initiative -- Into the gap -- Closing in -- Victory for the Allies.
Summary: "James Holland's The Rise of Germany, the first volume in his War in the West trilogy, was widely praised for Holland's impeccable research and narrative skills. With a wealth of characters from across the western theatre of WWII, Holland told a captivating story and used new research to challenge our assumptions and reframe our understanding of this momentous conflict. As The Rise of Germany ended, the Nazi war machine looked to be unstoppable. Germany had taken Poland and France with shocking speed. London was blitzed by the Luftwaffe, and U-boats harried Allied shipping. But Germany hadn't actually won the Battle of Britain or the Battle of the Atlantic, and was not producing airplanes or submarines fast enough. And what looked like victory in Greece and Crete had expended crucial resources in short supply. In The Allies Strike Back, while Germany's invasion of Russia unfolds in the east, in the west, the Americans formally enter the war. In North Africa, after setbacks at the hands of Rommel, the Allies storm to victory. Meanwhile, the bombing of Germany escalates, aiming to destroy Nazi industry and crush civilian morale. The Allies Strike Back is a captivating book by a supremely skilled historian"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 940.5373 H735 Available 33111008826360
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

By June 1941, Germany's war machine looked to be unstoppable. The Nazi blitzkrieg had taken Poland, France, and Holland with shocking speed. The Luftwaffe had bombed London, while German U-boats wrought havoc on Allied shipping on the Atlantic. And yet, as James Holland shows at the start of The Allies Strike Back, 1941-1943 --the second volume in his magisterial narrative of World War II in the West--cracks were already appearing in Germany's apparent invincibility. Shortages of food and materiel were becoming critical. And, having failed to defeat Britain, Adolf Hitler fatefully pivoted east to invade the Soviet Union--territory he felt compelled to conquer for Germany's protection--and on June 22, 1941 precipitated the largest clash of arms the world had ever seen. Built for speed and quick conquest, German forces by that fall were bogged down in a horrible war of attrition that blunted the Nazi momentum.

The Allies Strike Back offers fascinating new perspective on the critical middle years in World War II's western theatre, as the advantage between Axis and Allied forces swung back and forth on the Atlantic and eastern front, and in north Africa and Europe. Acclaimed historian James Holland has spent years conducting original research and interviews, mining newly available archives, visiting battlefields and uncovering letters and diaries previously unread. Acknowledging that strategy and tactics have been the focus of previous histories, he gives equal space to the logistics and supply of men and materiel without which no war can be fought. Allied and Axis leaders criss-cross Holland's narrative, but he also memorably introduces readers to heretofore unknown participants: Sgt. Ralph Schaps, who experienced the Louisiana Maneuvers that propelled him into Europe; Colonel Hermann Balck, in command of a German panzer regiment in Africa; U-boat captain Teddy Suhren, operating against Allied shipping in the Atlantic; Billy Drake, squadron commander in Britain's Desert Air Force that helped turn the tide in North Africa; and many others.

Following the acclaimed first volume of his trilogy, The Rise of Germany , and offering frank assessments of successes and failures on both sides, James Holland has crafted a masterful and gripping narrative of the events that ultimately determined the outcome of World War II.

"James Holland's The Rise of Germany, the first volume in his War in the West trilogy, was widely praised for Holland's impeccable research and narrative skills. With a wealth of characters from across the western theatre of WWII, Holland told a captivating story and used new research to challenge our assumptions and reframe our understanding of this momentous conflict. As The Rise of Germany ended, the Nazi war machine looked to be unstoppable. Germany had taken Poland and France with shocking speed. London was blitzed by the Luftwaffe, and U-boats harried Allied shipping. But Germany hadn't actually won the Battle of Britain or the Battle of the Atlantic, and was not producing airplanes or submarines fast enough. And what looked like victory in Greece and Crete had expended crucial resources in short supply. In The Allies Strike Back, while Germany's invasion of Russia unfolds in the east, in the west, the Americans formally enter the war. In North Africa, after setbacks at the hands of Rommel, the Allies storm to victory. Meanwhile, the bombing of Germany escalates, aiming to destroy Nazi industry and crush civilian morale. The Allies Strike Back is a captivating book by a supremely skilled historian"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 626-678) and index.

Part I. America enters the war -- The largest clash of arms -- Manoeuvring -- Summer '41 -- The US Navy goes to war -- The sinking of the Reuben James -- Crusaders -- Unraveling -- World war -- Part II. Eastern influences -- Battles at sea -- Strategic blunders -- Carnage off America -- Fighters and bombers -- Steel and strategy -- Seeds of resistance -- Heat and dust -- Into the cauldron -- Combined production -- The fall of Tobruk -- Sea and sand -- Thousand bomber raid -- Sea and steppe -- Gathering strength -- Last chance in Africa -- The end of the German dream -- Part III. The Allies strike back -- A brief discourse on tanks and fire-power -- A brief discourse on training and morale -- Return of the hero -- Getting ready -- The vicious circle -- Lighting the torch -- Lightfoot -- Supercharge -- Cutting losses -- Invasion -- Part IV. Crushing the wolfpacks -- The blackest month -- Setbacks -- Year end -- The critical theatre -- Living dangerously -- Frühlingswind -- Heavy water -- Regaining the initiative -- Into the gap -- Closing in -- Victory for the Allies.

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