James L. Stokesbury – författare

A concise history covering the causes and the battles of the world''s first global conflict, "the war to end all wars."World War I was a bloodletting so vast and unprecedented that for a generation it was known simply as the Great War. Casualty lists reached unimagined proportions as the same ground—places like Ypres and the Somme—was fought over again and again. Other major bloody battles remain vivid in memory to this day: Gallipoli and the Battle of Jutland are but two examples. Europe was at war with itself, and the effect on Western civilization was profound, its repercussions felt even today.World War I saw the introduction of modern technology into the military arena: The tank, airplane, machine gun, submarine, and—most lethal of all—poison gas, all received their first widespread use. Professor James L. Stokesbury analyzes these technological innovations and the war''s complex military campaigns in lucid detail. At the same time he discusses the great political events that unfolded during the war, such as the Russian Revolution and the end of the Hapsburg dynasty, putting the social and political side of the war into the context of modern European history.Includes Maps

"A balanced account of World War II . . . Dr. Stokesbury''s one-volume history is by far the best short account of the war yet published." —Thaddeus V. Tuleja, Professor of History, St. Peter''s College, author of Climax at MidwayDespite the numerous books on World War II, until now there has been no one-volume survey that was both objective and comprehensive. Previous volumes have usually been written from an exclusively British or American point of view, or have ignored the important causes and consequences of the War.A Short History of World War II is essentially a military history, but it reaches from the peace settlements of World War I to the drastically altered postwar world of the late 1940s. Lucidly written and eminently readable, it is factual and accurate enough to satisfy professional historians. A Short History of World War II will appeal equally to the general reader, the veteran who fought in the War, and the student interested in understanding the contemporary political world."A magisterial accomplishment, with style, spirit, and perception . . . entertaining as well as instructive." —Martin Blumenson, author of The Patton Papers"We have needed this kind of book for a long time . . . It tells people just what they need to know about the war . . . It is an awfully good book." —Theodore Ropp, Professor of History, Duke University, author of War in the Modern World

The first one-volume survey of the American Revolution that is both objective and comprehensive, this outstanding narrative history traces the growth of a conflict that inexorably set the American colonies on the road to independence. Offering a spirited chronicle of the war itself -- the campaigns and strategies, the leaders on both sides, the problems of fielding and sustaining an army, and of maintaining morale -- Stokesbury also brings the reader to the Peace of Paris in 1783 and into the miltarily exhausted, financially ruined yet victorious United States as it emerged to create a workable national system.