In this gripping new look at the 20th century's most crucial conflict, historian Bell analyzes 12 unique turning points that determined the character and the ultimate outcome of the Second World War.

Days of Decision spans a century of American foreign policymaking, from the Spanish- American War of 1898 to the attacks of September 11, 2001. Michael J. Nojeim and David P. Kilroy carefully examine twelve foreign-policy landmarks, each of which played a crucial role in shaping world history and led to profound changes in U.S. foreign policy. Devoting one chapter to each turning point, they place it in its proper historical context, explore its political consequences--primarily the debates and divisions that arose among policymakers--and discuss the aftermath, focusing on its lasting influence on world affairs and the conduct of American diplomacy and foreign affairs. This accessible, introductory text provides students of foreign policy and international relations a deeper understanding of these disciplines' processes and of America's place in the world.

The expert contributors examine the end of détente and the beginning of the new phase of the cold war in the early 1980s, Reagan's radical new strategies aimed at changing Soviet behavior, the peaceful democratic revolutions in Poland and Hungary, the events that brought about the reunification of Germany, the role of events in Third World countries, the critical contributions of Gorbachev and Yeltsin, and more.

World War II Turning Points is an alternative history of mankind's most crucial military struggle. As such, it does not regurgitate the same, all-too-familiar versions of the past, consistently repeated by mainstream scholars since 1945. Instead, this unconventional revision is the result of newly-discovered and often neglected information about the sometimes obscure men, bizarre weapons, under-appreciated decisions, forgotten blunders and near misses that really determined the course and outcome of the Second World War. The author, a U.S. Department of Defense feature writer, whose published articles have appeared in military magazines here and abroad, combines a lifetime of research and world travels to offer an unprecedented panorama of the 20th Century's pivotal conflict. It opens with the war's single most fateful factor; namely, Allied success in breaking the Axis diplomatic and military codes. From the opening of hostilities in 1939 until the death of Reinhard Heydrich, more than three years later, Wehrmacht forces were everywhere victorious. But with the killing of their security chief, British cryptanalysts at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, in southeast England, finally gained unrestrained access for all top secret transmissions in the Third Reich. Results were immediately forthcoming. These previously unknown events were the real if invisible turning points behind the more famous battles at places like Midway or Stalingrad. Accordingly, World War Two Turning Points shows how the international conflict was a contrast, even a struggle between Allied inevitabilities and Axis lost opportunities. Less of one or more of another by so much as a subtle degree could have decided hostilities different from their historic conclusion.

The respected British military historian H. P. Willmott presents the first of a three-volume appraisal of the strategic policies of the countries involved in the Pacific War. Remarkable in its scope and depth of research, his thoughtful analysis covers the whole range of political, economic, military, and naval activity in the Pacific. This first volume comprehensively covers events between December 1941 and April 1942, concluding with the Doolittle Raid on April 18. When published in hardcover in 1982, the book was hailed as an eloquent portrayal of great empires on trial that no one should miss. Willmott’s stimulating and original approach to the subject remains unmatched even today.

The Battle for Milne Bay - Japan's first defeat on land in the Second World War - was a defining moment in the evolution of the indomitable Australian fighting spirit. For the men of the AIF, the militia and the RAAF, it was the turning point in the Pacific, and their finest - though now largely forgotten - hour. Forgotten, until now. In August 1942, Japan's forces were unstoppable. Having conquered vast swathes of south-east Asia - Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies - and now invading New Guinea, many feared the Empire of the Rising Sun stood poised to knock down Australia's northern door. But first they needed Port Moresby. In the still of an August night, Japanese marines sailed quietly into Milne Bay, a long, malaria-ridden dead end at the far eastern tip of Papua, to unleash an audacious pincer movement. Unbeknown to them, however, a secret airstrip had been carved out of a coconut plantation by US Engineers, and a garrison of Australian troops had been established, supported by two locally based squadrons of RAAF Kittyhawks, including the men of the famed 75 Squadron. The scene was set for one of the most decisive and vicious battles of the war. For ten days and nights Australia's soldiers and airmen fought the elite of Japan's forces along a sodden jungle track, and forced them back step by muddy, bloody step. In Turning Point, bestselling author Michael Veitch brings to life the incredible exploits and tragic sacrifices of these Australian heroes.

Outlines events on the Eastern Front of World War II from the 1941 German the invasion of the Soviet Union to Stalin's declaration of war with Japan in 1945