ePub Germany and the Second World War: Volume II: Germany's Initial Conquests in Europe by From Oxford University Press in History

Review

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Germany and the Second World War: Volume II: Germany's Initial Conquests in EuropeBy Harry W. HendleyVolume Two of this series covers the period from prior to the outbreak of the war on 1 September 1939 to approximately the end of 1940 and the failure on the part of Hitler to woo the Vichy French and the Spanish into a truly active alliance with the Third Reich. The volume has a copyright of 1991; was translated into English in 2003; has been compiled by four different authors and has nine parts. They are:Part I- Politics and Warfare in the First Phase of the German Offensive.Part II- Action Plans and Situation Assessments of the Luftwaffe and Navy before The Outbreak of War.Part III- Hitler's First Blitzkrieg and Its Consequences for North-eastern Europe.Part IV- The First Phase of the War at Sea up to the Spring of 1940.Part V- Securing the Northern Flank of Europe.Part VI- The Battle for Hegemony in Western Europe.Part VII- The Operational Air War until the Battle of Britain.Part VIII- The Second Phase of the War at Sea (until the Spring of 1941).Part IX- Direct Strategy against Britain.Almost all of these parts are subdivided into sections and sub-sections. Although a few consist of only one or two pages; most are appreciably longer. The intent of the authors (as described in the introduction) has been to present a general overview of events and not to become bogged down in details which are available elsewhere in more dedicated works. In this writer's opinion; they have been imminently successful; as the entire work (including index) is sufficiently detailed and yet contains only 444 pages.The preliminaries to both the invasion of Poland (Case White) and the invasions of Norway and Denmark (Operation Weserubung) are well covered; as are the actual campaigns themselves. The actual campaign against France and the Low countries (Case Yellow) is less well covered in detail; the preparations for it are; however; presented very well and make clear that:1. The basic- the very basic- concept of effecting a penetration south of Liege "to cut off the enemy forces assembled in Belgium" was first mentioned and demonstrated by Hitler himself in October of 1939 ( a concept which "completely surprised" the Army High Command); and that;2. Lieutenant-General von Manstein (after consultation with Lieutenant-General Guderian) independently put together a far more wide-ranging plan of attack than Hitler envisaged.Other points of interest in this work include details surrounding the resignation of Admiral Hermann Boehm; and the pre-war German Aircraft and Naval vessel production plans (the latter two of which appear to call into serious question the validity of Andreas Hillgruber's "Step-By-Step" plan which he attributes to Hitler.Far more is available in this work which is well worth the investment; and I strongly recommend it- but only to serious students of the conflict. The presentation is dry and matter-of-fact; so buyer beware.8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Packaging quality is lacking; research is outstandingBy Christopher GraceyAs the above reviewer pointed out; this is an excellent historical work sold in a horrible package. Oxford University Press has done a disservice to their customers by packaging such a significant work in a low quality binding. I therefore conclude that the volumes are certainly not worth the steep price tag based on their packaging.However; the quality of the research is excellent and of great value to both the academic researcher and casual reader alike. A German perspective of their role in the war is long overdue. The Militargeschichtliches Forschungsamt has done a wonderful job in allowing their researchers the academic freedom to pursue issues without forcing preconceived conclusions onto them. The researchers have provided a scope of work that explores different ideas and; often times; reaches differing conclusions.These volumes differ from other countries' "official" histories of the war. The period of time that has passed since the war's end and the publication of this work allow the contributors to focus on the modern notion of military history; encompassing not only military tactic and strategy but also the social; economic and political influences and consequences of the war.Aside from the poor production quality; this is an outstanding and highly recommended work.This review refers to the first four volumes in this series.15 of 17 people found the following review helpful. Excellent History - Poor Production QualityBy Charles J. KingThis volume is a translation of the second volume of the series 'Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg'; a project of the Military Research Department of the German Bundeswehr. The complete work is planned for 10 volumes; of which two are two-part. The series in general is of the highest standard and deals with military; political and economic developments affecting Germany during the war.This is not a general history of the war. Those seeking a balanced treatment of all theaters will not find it here. There is however; to my knowledge; no finer work on Germany's involvement.The quality of the translation is good. I wish that I could say the same for the production quality of the books themselves. Oxford University Press is certainly capable of producing first class books and one would expect that books in this price category would be of the highest production standard. Alas; this is not the case. These volumes are greatly inferior in quality to the German originals; which cost less than $40.00 per volume. If you cannot read German; want one of the best series on Germany's role in the war ever to appear; and don't mind paying a hefty price for a lower quality book; I do recommend them.