The Ordeal of Total War, 1939-45

The Rise of Modern Europe #20

by Gordon Wright

"Gordon Wright's study is lucid, judicious, and enormously well-informed. In particular the chapter on the scientific dimension of the war and the concluding chapter on the overall impact of the war are the best treatments of these topics I have encountered anywhere."
- H. Stuart Hughes

"To the best of my knowledge, Professor Wright's book is the first attempt to explore this theme (the impetus of mass warfare in the Industrial Age) comprehensively, with an unusual command of Russian as well as western and German sources. It is a distinguished achievement which conveys a convincing picture of what total war means, or rather what it meant before the H-bomb added a new dimension."
- Geoffrey Barraclough, The New York Review of Books

Contents
I. Europe on the Brink
II. The Expansion of German Power
III. The Broadening Scope of War: The Economic Dimension
IV. The Broadening Scope of War: The Psychological Dimension
V. The Broadening Scope of War: The Scientific Dimension
VI. German Rule in Occupied Europe
VII. Europe's Response to Conquest: The Resistance Movement
VIII. The Resurgence of Allied Power
IX. The Dislocation of the Nazi Empire
X. Preparation of the Postwar Era
XI. The Impact of Total War

Genres: History, Nonfiction, European History, War, World War II, Russia, Japan

344 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1968

About the author

Gordon Wright was William H. Bonsall Professor of History Emeritus at Stanford University

Reviews

[Richard Treitel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I intend to find more books from the series of which this one is part, owing to the broad perspective that it takes. Though it restricts itself to the European, Mediterranean, and Atlantic theatres, the book gives very full coverage of Hitler's half of the war, in three senses. Chronologically, it goes from September 1939 to May 1945 and beyond. Geographically, it reaches from Finland to Libya and from Great Britain to the Urals (I think Iceland is not mentioned). Thematically, it covers, though with little detail, military events, science and technology, propaganda, economics, culture, and perhaps more. My one regret is that these accounts are mostly separate from each other, though there is an overarching claim that Hitler was too optimistic about winning the war in a few months.

If you want to know everything about the War, this is a good place to start from.

For background, I grew up in the shadow of the War -- my parents had lived through it and many of the books I read when I was young had German villains -- and have read many books and watched many films and documentaries about it, ranging from HMS Ulysses to Winston Churchill's twelve-volume account. This book stands unique for its breadth and the way in which it provides context for the others.

[David Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well organized and well written, all-encompassing account of Europe during World War II. Focus is not on solely on describing the combat and political events, but includes chapters on the economic, psychological, and scientific dimensions of the war. I also like the extensive (40pp) and well organized bibliographic essay.

This book is from the Rise of Modern Europe series. I like this book enough that I'm going to pick up the volume covering the Napoleonic years.

[Drift · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this along time ago. I remeber that it had some cool details about the types of anti radar procedures that were applied to defend British aircraft.