Hedley P. Willmott Book order

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the greatest naval engagement in history. The battle was four separate actions, none of which were fought in the Gulf itself, and the result was the destruction of Japanese naval power in the Pacific. This book is a detailed and comprehensive account of the fighting from both sides. It provides the context of the battle, most obviously in terms of Japanese calculations and the search for "a fitting place to die" and "the chance to bloom as flowers of death." Using Japanese material never previously noted in western accounts, H. P. Willmott provides new perspectives on the unfolding of the battle and very deliberately seeks to give readers a proper understanding of the importance of this battle for American naval operations in the following month. This careful interrogation of the accounts of "the last fleet action" is a significant contribution to military history.

Follows the fortunes of the established seafaring nations of Europe along with two upstarts - the United States and Japan.

The book has ten chapters: the first is an analysis of the build-up to the war, the next seven chapters cover the war itself and the final chapter examines how victory for the USA and the USSR shaped the subsequent history of the 20th century. The chapters are arranged as far as possible to give a clear chronological account of the war as it developed in all theatres, both on the battlefields and on the home front. Each begins with an overview of the situation at the starting point of the chapter. The following sections are each introduced by a timeline of the events covered. The main text is accompanied by maps, feature boxes on many aspects of life during the war, and brief biographies of major personalities. This enhanced version includes 16 additional pages of a gazetteer of World War II memorials, battlefields, and museums

A portrait of World War I, one of the world's greatest human conflicts. It offers an account of the Great War combining emotive photography with personal accounts to evoke both the futility and spirit of the conflict. It explores various aspects of World War I - sea, land and the home front.

The narrative focuses on the intense military engagements between the United States and Japan following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Highlighting Japan's early successes in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, it details the fierce clashes that occurred from May 1942 to October 1943 in the Southwest Pacific. The evenly matched forces fought relentlessly, leading to exhausting battles that defined this critical period of World War II.

Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was the beginning of the United States' battle with Japan during World War II.

The book presents a radical reinterpretation of 20th-century history, positioning 1945 as its starting point and 1968 as the end of the Age of Reason. It controversially categorizes the First World War as the first 20th-century conflict and views the Second World War as a continuation of 19th-century wars. The author argues that the Second World War was part of a broader series of conflicts from 1931 to 1975, while the Cold War represented a period of suspended animosities. The analysis of the 1991 Gulf campaign is particularly contentious.

This book examines chronologically the course of the World War II, taking issue with commonly held notions about the war, and offering new interpretations of major campaigns and individuals.