Blood, Tears and Folly

by Len Deighton

First published 1993

Amazon

4.3(64)

Deighton surveys the Second World War as a global conflict shaped by decisions made long before particular battles began. He examines political assumptions, industrial capacity, weapons development, logistics and command across Europe, North Africa, the Soviet Union, Asia and the Pacific, asking why governments repeatedly entered campaigns for which they were poorly prepared.

Rather than treating Allied victory as inevitable, the book emphasises uncertainty and the cumulative effects of error. Major leaders and operations are placed alongside the practical limits of aircraft, ships, armour and supply, producing a broad history of how strategy was constrained by technology, geography and institutional habit.

Historical Periods

World War II1939–1945 CE

Genres

Political History

Historical people

Franklin D. Roosevelt1882–1945 Adolf Hitler1889–1945 Joseph Stalin1878–1953 Erwin Rommel1891–1944 Winston Churchill1874–1965 Bernard Montgomery1887–1976 Dwight D. Eisenhower1890–1969 Isoroku Yamamoto