Full Description
Based on the Second World War, this narrative poem, with its evocative drawings, captures the devastation of this global war and the dramatic events that took place. It is the author's dedication to the courage displayed by men and women of every participating nation, but especially by those who fought for the ideals of freedom and justice against tyranny and humanity.
This narrative poem seeks to give a comprehensive view of the most extensive and devastating war that has ever occurred. It deals with both the West, where fighting was prolonged in Europe, North Africa and on the sea, and also the Far East, where predominantly American forces fought the Japanese. The British role includes accounts of the Dambusters' raid and General Slim's campaign in Burma.
The chronological narrative recounts major events, such as the fall of France, the battle of Britain, Hitler's invasion of Russia, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the battle of El Alamein, the fall of Italy, the Normandy invasion, far eastern naval battles, the final collapse of Nazi Germany and the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan. Its focus on military strategy, tactics and descriptions of battles is enhanced by details relating to the war conferences between the Allied leaders. Integral features of the war such as the atrocities against the Jews, the efforts of the French resistance and the Stauffenberg plot to kill Hitler are not overlooked.
The inspiration that motivated the writing of the book was not only the courage displayed by men and women fighting for freedom and justice, but also the moral principle that drove the war to its conclusion in the defeat of the Nazis and the Japanese warlords; namely the belief that civilisation depends upon the defence of the traditional values of respect for law, representative democracy and, ultimately, upon love of one's neighbour.
Contents
1 The Approach of War 9
2 Blitzkreig 15
3 The Fall of France 23
4 The Battle of Britain 37
5 The Greek Disaster 47
6 Barbarossa 61
7 The Japanese Onslaught 73
8 Axis Occupation 85
9 The War at Sea 91
10 Midway 101
11 The Dieppe Raid 111
12 Bomber Command 117
13 El Alamein 125
14 Stalingrad 141
15 Guadalcanal 155
16 The Clearance of North Africa 161
17 The Warsaw Ghetto 171
18 Crisis in the Atlantic 177
19 The Dambusters' Raid 187
20 The Battle of Kursk 193
21 The Fall of Mussolini 201
22 Jean Moulin 209
23 The Bombing of Hamburg 21724 Allied Advances 221
25 The Teheran Conference 227
26 The Siege of Leningrad 235
27 Monte Cassino 241
28 Tito's Partisans 255
29 The Defence of India 261
30 The Normandy Invasion 273
31 The Marianas 291
32 The Stauffenberg Plot 301
33 Bagration 311
34 Victory in Normandy 315
35 The Warsaw Rising 325
36 The Liberation of Paris 333
37 Arnhem 339
38 The Battle of Leyte Gulf 351
39 The Battle of the Bulge 359
40 Victory in Burma 369
41 The Yalta Conference 379
42 Iwo Jima 385
43 The Fall of Nazi Germany 393
44 Hiroshima 405
Source of Words in Quotation Marks 413
Main Works Consulted 415
