The Second World War: A Military History

Corrigan, a member of the British Commission for Military History, combines scholarship, presentation, and insight for this operational-level military history. This perspective stresses the disconnects between WWII’s global nature and the diverse nature of individual campaigns. Strategic planning might have been comprehensive, but the North African desert, the land mass of Russia, the dimensions of the Pacific Ocean, all imposed operational and tactical diversity that in turn engaged resources and focus to the detriment of coordination. Combatant behavior was also affected by circumstances. The Wehrmacht that embraced the Russian front’s ferocity fought a relatively clean war in the West. Defining technologies varied from the tank in Russia to the atomic bomb over Japan. Corrigan effectively depicts the synergies among operational theaters, forces committed, and home fronts. He credits the Red army with the “steepest” adjustment to the demands of modern war, while the U.S. stands out as “the most mechanized” and the British as maximizing limited resources. Predictably, the Germans stand out in terms of military effectiveness—nullified by military overextension and political interference. Open to challenge at many points, this is also a useful read. 24 pages of b&w photos, 19 maps. (Nov.)