Brigadier General Charles F. Brower IV is a Professor of History and International Affairs at the Virginia Military Institute, teaching courses in American foreign policy and strategy. His academic work focuses on understanding the historical patterns that shape the contemporary international landscape. Brower brings a wealth of practical experience and deep analytical insight to his teaching and writing. His courses and publications often explore the complexities of military history and its impact on current global affairs.
American strategists in the Joint Chiefs of Staff recognized the deep connection between political and military strategy during World War II, particularly in the conflict against Japan. They believed that war stems from political origins and aims to achieve political goals, which shape both the objectives of the war and the subsequent peace. Emphasizing the importance of policy as the guiding force in warfare, the book explores how this understanding influenced strategic decision-making, reflecting Clausewitz's views on the interplay between war and politics.
In World War II in Europe: The Final Year, a distinguished group of international scholars reconsiders the important military and political questions relating to the final year of World War II. The essays attack these issues from strategic, operational, tactical and human perspectives, each section balanced by judicious commentary from experts in the field. The volume opens with fresh assessments of the strategic gifts of Roosevelt and Churchill, then goes on to offer analyses of aspects of the operational level of warfare. In one essay David Eisenhower reconsiders the "broad front" strategy employed by his grandfather as Supreme Allied Commander of Europe. Other essays examine such issues as the strategic bombing campaign, Germany’s defensive efforts, the role that considerations of military geography played in military operations in the Netherlands (with special attention on MARKET-GARDEN), and the terribly difficult Canadian operations to clear the "long left flank" of the Allies and to open the Scheldt estuary. The volume concludes with an examination of the human dimension of warfare. First-hand experiences are balanced with historical craft as essayists describe events during the battles against the Germans in the Ardennes and on Walcheren Island, as well as the perspectives of Dutch non-combatants as they adapted to liberation. World War II in Europe provides an unusually balanced set of essays analyzing the war in Europe from D-Day to V-E Day from diverse perspectives. The result is a greater appreciation of the complex challenges faced in bringing that "great" war to conclusion.
