Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
This Week’s Book Review – The Second World Wars
Books written about World War II fill libraries. Can anything new be said about that war, especially in an overview book? The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won by Victor Davis Hanson proves there is. A one-volume look at World War II, it offers surprising conclusions.
The surprises lie in Hanson’s presenting conclusions, which seem obvious once stated, but overlooked until Hanson highlights them. One example: Germany and Japan started wars they could not finish.
Germany lacked the capability to occupy Britain. After May 1940, Germany needed a seaborne invasion, which they could not do. Similarly, Germany could have occupied European Russia, but were incapable of occupying all of Russia. Japan’s situation was even worse. They could not reach the United States.
The result? All the Axis powers depended on their enemies surrendering to achieve peace. When Britain and Russia refused to make peace, Germany was stuck in a war it could not win. It could not even attack their enemies’ production centers.
The flip side is the Allied powers could strike the Axis heartland and possessed the ability to occupy enemy homelands. To make matters worse for the Axis, the Allies outproduced all the Axis powers by a ratio of 2:1. The United States’s gross domestic product by itself was larger than that of all Axis nations combined. Hansen points out even relatively minor Allied powers could outproduce the Axis. Canada alone produced more than twice as many military vehicles as Germany.
There are other similar revelations. Hanson rightly points out the second World War was actually a collection of independent wars that merged together. It was one of the few wars where the losers killed more than the victors. Three-quarters of those killed by the Allies were combatants, while three-quarters of those killed by the Axis were civilian. The Axis also depended heavily on slave labor.
Hansen provides a concise, readable and well-researched volume on World War II. It is an excellent starting point for those who know nothing about World War II, and a fresh look at the war for those knowledgeable about it.
“The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won,” by Victor Davis Hanson, Basic Books, 2017, 720 pages, $40
I write a weekly book review for the Daily News of Galveston County. (It is not the biggest daily newspaper in Texas, but it is the oldest.) My review normally appears Wednesdays. When it appears, I post the review on Ricochet on the following Sunday.
Published in History
CONTINUED FROM ABOVE
So true. Both countries were tottering on the brink. Japan was on the verge of economic collapse and Russia was descending into revolution. The Russo-Japanese War was one of the largest two-country wars in history, but gets overshadowed by WWI. It’s importance – not least its contribution to fomenting the Russian Revolution of 1917 – is overlooked.
I just started reading this. No spoilers!
But his early setup gives it away – how comparably weak the Axis powers were in comparison to the eventual Allied nations, even early on, and it eventually, inevitably got worse for them. Blitzkrieg is unsustainable. Blitzkrieg doesn’t occupy land or provide resources like fuel. Troops on the ground do – lots of them.
Really looking forward to reading more.
The Germans won and now dominate Europe.
I am pretty well convinced that WWI may not have occurred had Russia not lost the Russo-Japanese War. Russia and Germany were allies in 1904. Once Japan barred further Russian expansion east, Russia turned its attentions west again. That brought it into conflict with Germany. Additionally, Russia did a lot to egg on the beginning of WWI, hoping to make territorial gains at the expense of the Ottomans and possibly Austria-Hungary.
(Fun fact: the Ottoman Empire offered to enter the war on the side of the Entante – France and Russia – if the Ottoman’s pre-war borders were guaranteed. France and Russia refused. France wanted Syria and Russia what is now Eastern Turkey.)
Seawriter
Don’t confuse competent to with qualified to.
Seawriter
Dang right!
:-)
Isn’t that the idea behind the (over-budget and problem-plagued) LCS program?
Quantity is a quality of its own.
To be fair, the 500 would be fairly functional at best.
No. The idea behind the LCS program is to have ships deployed near trouble spots with a limited crew, then when trouble strikes, crew them up, and have them show the flag in the trouble spot. Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) not Low Cost Ships I think each of these Fast Frigates cost a $1 Billion dollars.
I thought it was supposed to be a common hull design with “quick change” loadouts for different missions.
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&ct=4&tid=1650
Boy, if that ain’t corporate-speak.
Yea, the do. There are mission specific modules that can be loaded for doing different things.
Canadian Corvettes and Frigates have had this capability for decades, at maybe 1/3 the cost.
Thanks, Seawriter.
Question: Would you recommend this book as appropriate to be consumed as an audiobook?
Only if you have a long commute. It is very listenable, but it is also very long.
Seawriter