List of Figures; List of Maps; Preface; Acknowledgments; List of Abbreviations and German Terms; Introduction; 1. Hitler's Pre-war Assessment of the United States and Japan; 2. Hitler's Physical Health in Autumn 1941; 3. 'All measures short of war': the German Assessment of American Strategy, 1940/41; 4. Forging an Unlikely Alliance: Germany and Japan, 1933–1941; 5. Facing the Same Dilemma: The US and German Quest for Rubber; 6. The Crisis of the German War Economy, 1940/41; 7. The End of Blitzkrieg? Barbarossa and the Impact of Lend-Lease; 8. The Battle of the Atlantic; 9. The Luftwaffe on the Eve of Global War; 10. The Holocaust; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.
Challenges long-held assumptions regarding the German declaration of war on the United States in December 1941.
Klaus H. Schmider has been with the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst since May 1999. He is the co-author of Volume 8 of the official German history of World War II, Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (2007).
'Historians have argued for decades over the question of why Hitler
chose to declare war on the United States. Klaus Schmider has now
written the first full authoritative history of the decision,
setting it firmly in the context of German domestic and military
policy. This will become the definitive account.' Richard Overy,
author of The Bombing War: Europe 1939-1945
'Hitler's suicidal declaration of war on the United States in
December 1941 has long seemed a quixotic even nihilistic move. In
his brilliant new book, which is based on a broad range of records,
Klaus Schmider restores a sense of strategy and rationality to the
'Fuehrer's' decision.' Brendan Simms, author of Hitler: Only the
World Was Enough
'In a must-read, ground-breaking book, Schmider analyzes the
factors that influenced a shift in Hitler's policy from one of
restraint to a declaration of war on the United States. Woven into
this complicated narrative are Germany's uncertain relationship
with Japan, the war with the Soviet Union, synthetic rubber, and
the impact of Lend-Lease and the United States' modification of its
neutrality on Hitler's decision.' Mary Kathryn Barbier, author of
Spies, Lies, and Citizenship: The Hunt for Nazi Criminals
'A masterly reassessment that harnesses the latest scholarship to
situate Hitler's fateful choice in a complex of ideological
obsessions, economics, strategic ambition, flawed technology and
operational overstretch, challenging long-held assumptions of
nihilistic or deranged decision-making at the heart of the Third
Reich.' Andrew Lambert, author of Seapower States: Maritime
Culture, Continental Empires, and the Conflict That Made the Modern
World
'Schmider's Hitler's Fatal Miscalculation is … groundbreaking, and
a must read for anyone interested in the Second World War, Nazi
Germany, strategic decision-making, and the ideology and strategic
thinking of the 'Mad Corporal' Adolf Hitler.' Russell A. Hart,
Journal of Military History
'Schmider should be congratulated on an impressive work that adds
much to our discussion of German strategy. It deserves widespread
attention.' Jeremy Black, Strategy Page
'This meticulously researched tome provides a unique interpretation
of Hitler's decision to declare war on the US ... This is
diplomatic and military history at its best as Schmider (Royal
Military Academy Sandhurst, UK) examines the entire context in
which Hitler carefully reached his decision ... Highly
recommended.' M. A. Mengerink, Choice
'… divining Hitler's thinking is often an exercise in speculation.
Schmider recognizes the challenge and has therefore dug deeply into
the extant sources. He compares the Führer's more commonly quoted
remarks to other contemporaneous comments found in less frequented
records. For those who seek to plumb the Führer's mind, Schmider
has given us much to consider.' Zachary Shore, Journal of Modern
History
'Schmider should be congratulated on an impressive work that adds
much to our discussion of German strategy. It deserves widespread
attention.' Jeremy Black, The NYMAS Review
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