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Europe at War 1939-1945: No Simple Victory. By Norman Davies. London: Macmillan, 2006. ISBN 978-0333-69285-l.Maps. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 490. £25.00.
So you think you know aU about the Second World War in Europe? - Think again, argues Norman Davies in a comprehensive re-evaluation of this great conflict. Bucking the trend toward 'specialization' and 'compartmentaUzation in the study of the 1939-1945 war, Davies offers an audacious 'macro' perspective. His stated aim is 'not to present spectacularly new facts, but rather to rearrange, to juxtapose and reintegrate well-established facts that have hitherto been stricdy segregated' (p. 7).
He eschews both the orthodox chronological or geographical narrative frameworks, instead dividing the volume into seven thematic sections. In chapter one, 'Interpretation,' the author surveys the material, ideological and historical parameters involved in understanding the war, and unmasks the ethnocentric biases embedded in Western perceptions of the struggle for Europe. Chapter two, 'Warfare', is a concise analytical survey of military operations, while chapter three, 'Politics,' considers the international and domestic 'superstructure' that regulated the national and geopolitical intricacies of waging the war. 'Soldiers' (chapter four) is an exposé of various aspects of the martial experience from Private to ReId Marshal. Non-combatants are the subject of...