Armageddon: The Reality Behind the Distortions,: Myths, Lies, Illusions of World War II

In this hard, cold look at WWII, Ponting, professor of politics at the Univ. of Swansea, Wales, pays little attention to such matters as heroism, sacrifice or ideals, concentrating instead on the unalloyed truths of the conflict: for instance, that three quarters of those killed were civilians. His sweeping survey is studded with facts and blunt opinions: the central (ill-chosen) element of British strategy was the mass bombing of Germany; the war did not witness unprecedented technological advance; the dominant feature of the war on the Eastern front was its extreme barbarity; the greatest variety of collaborators was found in France; the German attack on the Soviet Union was welcomed by the Vatican; the war economy in America produced a massive increase in our national wealth. More interested in category than chronology, Ponting explores the war's origins, the position of neutral countries, the relative strengths of the Allies, the differing character of mobilization from country to country, the victimization of civilians and other topics of large scope. Ponting has written a pragmatic overview of the most catastrophic war in history. Maps. (Aug.)