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Why the Allies Won: Explaining Victory in World War II (Pimlico)
 
 
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Why the Allies Won: Explaining Victory in World War II (Pimlico) (Paperback)

by R.J. Overy (Author) "WHY DID THE ALLIES win World War II? ..." (more)
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 407 pages
  • Publisher: Pimlico; New edition edition (1 Feb 1996)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0712674535
  • ISBN-13: 978-0712674539
  • Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.4 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 444,015 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
"Outstanding... Overy has written a masterpiece of analytical history, posing and answering one of the great questions of the century."
-Niall Ferguson, "Sunday Times"
"Richard Overy is writing at the height of his powers... The result is often startling, never less than fascinating."
-Adam Sisman, "Observer" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Good Book Guide
A wise man's view of the world war --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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WHY DID THE ALLIES win World War II? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Great analysis of a wideranging subject, 31 Jul 2005
By Jan Jensen "euro1999" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Richard Overy's book is a very good example of a strong analysis of the Second World War.

A couple of things, I am missing in his account of the allied victory is two things. One is the role of intelligence, which he himself writes that he do not attribute to having a war-winning effect, and therefore do not single out, but instead mentioning it, when it is important, to his account. I don't think that you can underestimate the value of allied intelligence. The Soviet union had througout the war very good direct and indirect sources as regards German military planning. I Overy puts to little emphasis on this.

Another thing is that Overy puts emphasis on the importance of the weather in the context of D-Day, but he doesn't do it in relation to the Eastern front. There is no doubt that "General Mud" and "General Winter" played a very important role in slowing down the German offensive on the Eastern front.

It is also a very sweeping statement that "he (Hitler) did not consider economics as central to the war effort." (p. 206) Hitler put a very strong emphasis on certain aspects of war economics for instance raw materials. He stopped the advance on Moscow in 1941 and didn't repeat in 1942 because he wanted to focus on the natural wealth of the Ukraine and the Caucasus, and in this context said that "His generals didn't understand the economics of war". He even talked about the reconquest of the Rumanian oil wells in the Bunker in 1945. Eventually, neither Hitler nor his generals had a deep understanding of the essentials of the war economy such as mass production etc., which is also mentioned by Overy.

And all in all, a very good book, which also gave me new information for instance of the effect of allied air power.

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars How luck, bravery, tenancity and massive economic power won, 6 Jan 2000
By A Customer
If you thought Montogomery was a fool or Churchill a master strategist then read this. This book examines the key battlefields (Overy is, as usual, superb in his account of the Eastern front) on land and sea, the leaders and the economic background. He vindicates bombing, Zhukov and Montgomery but makes Churchill look rather out-of-touch. Occassionally too terse - the key moments of the war in the Pacific are dealt with in a couple of hundred words - at others rather long winded (such as in his admiration of the Soviet planning system). But well worth buying.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Not the obvoius answer you would expect, 26 Sep 2002
By Simon J Parsons (Glasgow United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
When my father lent me this book i was initally dismissive reagrding the contents given the title as the answer appeared obvious. However, this book seeks to dispell many assumptions reagrding the allies victory being inevitable. It is full of facinating strategic military insights as well as containing quite staggering statistics regarding the output of the military powers and their inherent strengths and weaknesses. For instance the German war industry was fastidious to the point of inefficiency, whereas, the United states based on the principles of mass production turned the economy around to military production so quickly that the Ford motor company produced more arnaments than Italy as a whole! Well worth investigating.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent analysis of WW2
Every time you think there is no more to be written about or to learn about the events of the Second World War, you get the chance to pick up a book which gives you a different... Read more
Published 3 months ago by stripeyunited

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, diverting
Firstly, this is a far from comprehensive view of the war, as some reviewers have pointed out. Then again, with a conflict as big and sprawling (and as heavily reasearched and... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Donaldo

5.0 out of 5 stars All the facts and figures you'll ever need...
Overy goes into great depth to find why the Allies won, or in somecases as he put it, how the Axis lost the war. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Casual

2.0 out of 5 stars Can't say I'd recommend it
Overy asks the question of "Why the allies won?" His first task is to explain away the idea that the allies, namely the US, England and Soviet Union were successful due to their... Read more
Published 16 months ago by T. Kunikov

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible, full of historical errors and misrepresentation of truth
I bought this book after having in recommended to me by several people as a definitive study into why the allies actually won the war as oppose to the Axis forces, but what I... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Carl

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading
I have nothing to add to the other reviews, save to say that this book (the second edition, published in 2005) deserves five stars and is essential reading for anyone studying the... Read more
Published on 20 Nov 2006 by Martin Akiyama

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent wrting and a wonderful piece of analytical history
This book truly gives you a first rate account of hisory behind the second world war and an excellent historical account. Read more
Published on 11 Dec 2004 by KaptinKaos

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