This text provides an innovative global military history that joins three periods—World War I, the interwar years, and World War II. Jeremy Black offers a comprehensive survey of both wars, comparing continuities and differences. He traces the causes of each war and assesses land, sea, and air warfare as separate dimensions. He argues that the unprecedented nature of the two wars owed much to the demographic and industrial strength of the states involved and their ability and determination to mobilize vast resources. Yet the demands of the world wars also posed major difficulties, not simply in sustaining the struggle but also in conceiving of practical strategies and operational methods in the heat and competition of ever-evolving conflict. In this process, resources, skills, leadership, morale, and alliance cohesion all proved significant. In addition to his military focus, Black considers other key dimensions of the conflicts, especially political and social influences and impacts. He thoroughly integrates the interwar years, tracing the significant continuities between the two world wars. He emphasizes how essential American financial, industrial, agricultural, and energy resources were to the Allies—both before and after the United States entered each war. Bringing the two world wars to life, Black sheds light not only on both as individual conflicts but also on the interwoven relationships between the two.

Europe’s second Thirty Years’ War—an epoch of blood and ashes Fire and Blood looks at the European crisis of the two world wars as a single historical sequence: the age of the European Civil War (1914–1945). Its overture was played out in the trenches of the Great War; its coda on a ruined continent. It opened with conventional declarations of war and finished with “unconditional surrender.” Proclamations of national unity led to eventual devastation, with entire countries torn to pieces. During these three decades of deepening conflicts, a classical interstate conflict morphed into a global civil war, abandoning rules of engagement and fought by irreducible enemies rather than legitimate adversaries, each seeking the annihilation of its opponents. It was a time of both unchained passions and industrial, rationalized massacre. Utilizing multiple sources, Enzo Traverso depicts the dialectic of this era of wars, revolutions and genocides. Rejecting commonplace notions of “totalitarian evil,” he rediscovers the feelings and reinterprets the ideas of an age of intellectual and political commitment when Europe shaped world history with its own collapse.

"From the mud and bloody hell of Flanders to forlorn battles in Siberia and bitter street fighting to the very heart of Berlin 1945. From Africa to the Arctic, fighting men from a country frowned upon for its 'cowardly' neutrality participated in all the crucial battles of World War I and II. Their homeland was Sweden, which has enjoyed almost two hundred years of peace ... despite Sweden's policy of neutrality, no fewer than 23,000 Swedish citizens went to war between 1914 and 1945 ... [this book] also puts an end to the myth that most Swedes enlisted in Hitler's forces. Only 200 joined the Waffen-SS or the Wehrmacht of 1939-1945. In the same period, 9,000 Swedish citizens joined the Americans, the British, the Norwegians, and the Poles. In addition, well over 200,000 men of Swedish descent served in US, British, Canadian, and Australian Armed Forces"--Page 4 of cover

Comparing and contrasting the World Wars.

Analyzes the First and Second World Wars.

Europe from War to War, 1914–1945 explores this age of metamorphosis within European history, an age that played a crucial role in shaping the Europe of today. Covering a wide range of topics such as religion, arts and literature, humanitarian relief during the wars, transnational feminism, and efforts to create a unified Europe, it examines the social and cultural history of this period as well as political, economic, military, and diplomatic perspectives. Thematically organized within a chronological framework, this book takes a fully comparative approach to the era, allowing the reader to follow the evolution of key trends and ideas across these 30 turbulent years. Each period is analyzed from both an international and a domestic perspective, expanding the traditional narrative to include the role and impact of European colonies around the world while retaining a close focus on national affairs, everyday existence within Europe itself and the impact of the wars on people’s lives. Chapters include discussion of regions such as Scandinavia, the Balkans, and Iberia that are less frequently covered, emphasizing the network of connections between events and places across the continent. Global in scope, accessibly written and illustrated throughout with photographs and maps, this is the perfect introductory textbook for all students of early twentieth-century European history.

This book chronicles three decades largely overshadowed by war and mass unemployment. It was a period that saw in England the formation of a national government, the only genuine incidence of three-party politics, the fruition of campaigns for trades union recognition, women's suffrage, and Irish independence, and abroad withdrawal from the Gold Standard and involvement in collective security. Written in Taylor's customary provocative style, this is historical writing at its best. - ;This book begins on 4 August 1914, the day Britain entered the 'Great War', and describes the three decades of unparalleled upheaval and change up to the defeat of Japan in 1945, which marked the end of the Second World War. Twin themes of international conflict and mass unemployment in England predominate - besides giving a full account of foreign and domestic politics which were elaborated to deal with them, Taylor also pays particular attention to the impact of events on everyday lives. This book is an essential work from one of the finest historians of the twentieth century, which no one interested in the affairs of the UK will want to be without. -