Why did James love this book?
There are many books on WW2 but this one is really different: incredibly readable, full of deep, intriguing insights and information.
What I particularly like is the way that Oulds extracts the importance of the cultural backgrounds of the combatants in terms of how this determined the outcome. In essence, the Anglo-sphere's long-standing cultural development of individualism, innovation, and market-forces explains so much of what went 'wrong' for the Axis powers.
Further, this narrative provides profound insights into some of the characters. For example, the extent to which Hitler was a compulsive gambler; also, the depths of his strategic incompetence. This is a joy to read - I finished it in a few days since I couldn't put it down.
1 author picked World War II as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
The global conflict of WWII, the bloodiest yet in human history, was as much a clash of cultures as it was a clash of arms. Different world visions collided as fiercely as the great armies which encountered each other on the battlefields of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The struggle of ideas was as vicious as the battle on, and below the waves as was the fight in the skies above. Indeed, the culture war and national differences drove the conflict and influenced where, when, why, and even how, the war was fought.
Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt - as well as…