{"product_id":"the-oxford-handbook-of-world-war-ii-9780199341795","title":"The Oxford Handbook of World War II","description":"World War II left virtually no nation or corner of the world untouched, dramatically transforming human life and society. It prompted the unprecedented mobilization of whole societies and witnessed a scale of state-sanctioned violence that staggers the imagination, with more than 100 million casualties. The war resulted in an almost complete collapse of any norms geared toward avoiding the unnecessary loss of civilian life and shaped the worldview and psyches of generations. \u003cem\u003eThe Oxford Handbook of World War II\u003c\/em\u003e broadens traditional narratives of the war and in the process changes our understanding of this epic conflict. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOrganized both chronologically and thematically and with particular attention to the pre- and post-war eras, the \u003cem\u003eHandbook \u003c\/em\u003erevises and extends existing scholarship. With chapters on the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, the land war in Western Europe, the Battle of Britain, the impact of war on the major combatants (Great Britain, France, the United States, Japan, and China), the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the decision to use the atomic bomb in 1945, and the cultural responses to the war, the chapters span much of the twentieth century. They suggest areas of scholarly consensus, identify interpretative clashes, and propose agendas for further scholarly investigation, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary inquiry. For example, the end of the Cold War had a profound impact on the way World War II was understood. Many formerly closed records in the former Soviet Union and China were opened to scholars, facilitating a more complex view of the Soviet war effort and suggesting that Stalin's army did not simply triumph by overwhelming German forces with sheer numbers but mastered the demands of a vast and logistically demanding front. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn conceptualizing the volume, editors Kurt Piehler and Jonathan Grant also sought out contributions on lesser known aspects of the war, such as the Bengal famine in India, the treatment of prisoners of war, the role of Middle Eastern nations, and the activities of non-governmental organizations in ameliorating suffering. Spanning the rise and fall of the Versailles system to the postwar reintegration of veterans and the eventual commemoration of the conflict and its victims, \u003cem\u003eThe Oxford Handbook of World War II\u003c\/em\u003e marks a landmark contribution to the historical literature of war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eG. Kurt Piehler\u003c\/strong\u003e is Director of the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience of World War II and Associate Professor of History at Florida State University. His research centers on war and society with a focus on World War II. As founding director of the Rutgers Oral History Archives (1994-1998) he has interviewed more than 200 veterans of World War II. He is the author of \u003cem\u003eRemembering War the American Way\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eA Religious History of the American GI in World War II\u003c\/em\u003e, and consulting editor for \u003cem\u003eThe Oxford Companion to American Military History. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJonathan A. Grant\u003c\/em\u003e is Professor of Modern Russian History at Florida State University in Tallahassee. His most recent book, \u003cem\u003eBetween Depression and Disarmament, \u003c\/em\u003e examines the armaments business in Eastern Europe 1919-1939.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51424204292370,"sku":"9780199341795","price":172.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a6e7f31b-2865-456d-9dfc-ea21a42604ff.jpg?v=1751365928","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-oxford-handbook-of-world-war-ii-9780199341795","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}