Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
I guess I don't have access to the font of "specialist" knowledge that you apparently do. And I get annoyed at "special pleading" arguments. Somehow, mainstream historians have all gotten it wrong for a half-century and you and a few cutting edge historians in "specialist circles" (most of whom you neglect to name) have the [secret] knowledge that disproves years of careful scholarship? What "facts" that I've trotted out have been "disproven"? Perhaps I overstated the efficacy of the German U-Boat blockade, but what else? Where do your "facts" come from? Don't tell me they're classified or I'll know you're trolling.
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Of course you have access to the specialist knowledge - all you have to do is some research and your local library will be able to get the relevant books through interlibrary loans. Me? I either buy the books (Amazon and Book Depository are great) or use Sydney University Library (where I did my degree, but I could use the Mitchell Library/State Library of NSW or even interlibrary loans from Warringah Shire Library, my local library).
I mentioned one book previously, by Harrison and Barber, but any of their books are worth reading.
Harrison's books ...
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ec...rrison/public/
... many of which he co-authored with John Barber (King's College, Cambridge, not London)
You can see a sample of his/their work at -
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ec...rrison/public/
... which has interesting tables from their other works, including those on the WW2 economies of the Great Powers, which is in and of itself especially interesting.
I have also mentioned Glantz's work which is more specifically on the Eastern Front but, unfortunately, not widely enough read because, as I indicated, he is a horrible writer. It is only in the last 5-10 years that more readable accounts of the Eastern Front and Soviet era misinformation and lies have become more mainstream in the hands of historians with greater communications skills than Glantz (one of my colleagues refers to Glantz's writing style as 'mere typing'). His works done with Jonathan House are the most readable (
"When Titans Clashed" etc.)
For Bombing, Overy's
'The Bombing War' is showing more recent scholarship, and his
'Why the Allies Won' is getting somewhat dated, but basic still good (and readable).
Kershaw's
'Fateful Choices' is interesting, as it is about as close to a realistic assessment of 'alternate history' as a real specialist goes.
Blair's two volume work on the
U-Boat War places a spotlight on the shortcomings of the German U-Boat campaign, supplement figures that can be found in Tarrant's
"The U-Boat Offensive 1914-1945".
For overall logistics, look at Van Creveld's 'Supplying War', especially the last three chapters which are relevant to WW2 (East Front, Med, Western Europe).
To understand the political and economic realities faced by all major powers involved, and why the Allies (and Russians) had so much difficulty in matching initial German production, you couldn't go far wrong with Maiolo's
'Cry Havoc'
For the Strategic Bombing Campaign, reading the USAAF's
'Strategic Bombing Survey' with a critical eye, and looking at the actual figures presented which often belie some of the conclusions made then, and later, is always valuable.
I haven't found a single source that breaks down the various national contributions to Lend Lease and Reverse Lend Lease, or breakdowns of actual composition of Lend Lease shipments by specific type (most sources have only general categories and don't always even attempt to break it down by nation of origin), but if you dig around in a lot of the better Economic histories, you can find a lot (Harrison and Barber do deal with it in some places, for example).
As for Britain's stick-to-it-ivity, I haven't mentioned the books on the Napoleonic Wars, well, Knight's
'Britain Against Napoleon: The Organisation of Victory, 1793-1815' explains it in more detail than you'd probably care for, but any book about the invention of the National Debt/Creation of the Bank of England is also valuable (aka France lost because she couldn't organise herself efficiently to pay for the wars).
And that's just the stuff I can see from my Office, without going into my Lounge, which is lined, floor to ceiling on one long wall and a third of the other with bookshelves ... and without consulting the sheafs of notes I have taken over the years.
Phil