The History Buff's Guide to World War II: Top Ten Rankings of the Best, Worst, Largest, and Most Lethal People and Events of World War II

371 Pages·2012·6.53 MB·English

by  Thomas R. Flagel

Copyright © 2012, 2005 by Thomas R. Flagel
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Flagel, Thomas R.
The history buff’s guide to World War II : top ten rankings of the best, worst,
largest, and most lethal people and events of World War II / Thomas R. Flagel.
—2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. World War, 1939-1945. 2. World War, 1939-1945—
Miscellanea. I. Title.
D743.F53 2012
940.53—dc23
2012021088
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
For Clarice Mae Doty Flagel
1932–2004
CONTENTS
Prologue
1: “The Gathering Storm”
Top Ten Wars Before the War
Top Ten Attempts at Diplomacy
Top Ten Causes of the War
2: Politics
Top Ten Forms of Government
Top Ten Events in Politics
Top Ten Speeches
Top Ten Similarities Between Stalin and Hitler
3: Military Life
Top Ten Largest Armed Forces
Top Ten Weapons
Top Ten Items in a Soldier’s Diet
Top Ten Causes of Military Deaths
Top Ten Most Significant Battles: Europe and North Africa
Top Ten Most Significant Battles: Asia and the Pacific
4: Home Front
Top Ten Hardships
Top Ten Forms of Resistance
Top Ten Alternate Names for the War
Top Ten Songs
5: In Retrospect
Top Ten Firsts
Top Ten Best Military Commanders
Top Ten Worst Military Commanders
Top Ten Military Blunders
Top Ten Heroines
Top Ten Reasons the Allies Won
6: Pursuing The War
Top Ten General Histories
Top Ten Films
Top Ten Popular Myths and Misconceptions
Top Ten Historic Sites
Top Ten Ways to Get Involved
Epilogue
Time Line
Notes
Bibliography
PROLOGUE
World War II involved every inhabited continent, killed more than sixty million
people, permanently maimed another seventy million, and drove one hundred
million from their homes. Never before had such devastation fallen upon the
earth. The conflict generated some of the noblest deeds of courage and most
demonic acts of cruelty ever committed in recorded history.
From the ashes came an enduring question: how was such a horrific event
possible? In search of an answer, I interviewed many who had, from various
vantage points, seen the conflict firsthand. To better comprehend their
viewpoints, I asked them what they called the war. Witnesses generally agreed
on a surname of “War” but varied on the prefix—the Pacific, the People’s, the
Great, the Good, the Awful, the Second European, the Stupid, the Terrible.
Walter Joseph Bryant, an American who experienced the Pacific theater as
a nose gunner in a navy reconnaissance bomber, felt he could not give a suitable
answer. He simply said, “Each man has his own war.” His profound response
eloquently synopsized the war’s general nature and how it came to exist.
There was not one war but many. What humankind experienced between
1937 and 1945 was a catastrophic convergence, an abysmal host of wars. By
their simultaneous appearance, the conflicts were able to grow beyond any
logical limit, overlapping and interbreeding until they appeared to be a singular
beast, a proclaimed “world war.”
Understandably, this inherent complexity can be muddling if not
frustrating. The mountains of available print on the war frequently add to the
confusion. Military histories are often drowning in minutiae. Memoirs tend to be
steeped in agenda. Biographies give a single portrait but often neglect the
landscape. Lost in the names and dates is the big picture.
Presented here is a concise, convenient way to make sense of this most
intricate era. The format and aim of this book are in keeping with its
predecessor, The History Buff’s Guide to the Civil War. Using top-ten lists, the
intent is to provide a compelling overview, employing comparison and contrast
to give a different and balanced perspective on people, places, and events. Every
list begins with background information and criteria for the respective topic.
Some are in chronological order to illustrate progression. Others are quantitative
or qualitative, placing the more prominent elements of the war in their proper