Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned The Tide

Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned The Tide in the Second World War

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Paul Kennedy, award-winning author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers and one of todayâ€™s most renowned historians, now provides a new and unique look at how World War II was won.Â Engineers of VictoryÂ is a fascinating nuts-and-bolts account of the strategic factors that led to Allied victory. Kennedy reveals how the leadersâ€™ grand strategy was carried out by the ordinary soldiers, scientists, engineers, and businessmen responsible for realizing their commandersâ€™ visions of success.

In January 1943, FDR and Churchill convened in Casablanca and established the Allied objectives for the war: to defeat the Nazi blitzkrieg; to control the Atlantic sea lanes and the air over western and central Europe; to take the fight to the European mainland; and to end Japanâ€™s imperialism. Astonishingly, a little over a year later, these ambitious goals had nearly all been accomplished. With riveting, tactical detail,Â Engineers of VictoryÂ reveals how.

Kennedy recounts the inside stories of the invention of the cavity magnetron, a miniature radar â€œas small as a soup plate,â€ and the Hedgehog, a multi-headed grenade launcher that allowed the Allies to overcome the threat to their convoys crossing the Atlantic; the critical decision by engineers to install a super-charged Rolls-Royce engine in the P-51 Mustang, creating a fighter plane more powerful than the Luftwaffeâ€™s; and the innovative use of pontoon bridges (made from rafts strung together) to help Russian troops cross rivers and elude the Nazi blitzkrieg. He takes readers behind the scenes, unveiling exactly how thousands of individual Allied planes and fighting ships were choreographed to collectively pull off the invasion of Normandy, and illuminating how crew chiefs perfected the high-flying and inaccessible B-29 Superfortress that would drop the atomic bombs on Japan.

The story of World War II is often told as a grand narrative, as if it were fought by supermen or decided by fate. Here Kennedy uncovers the real heroes of the war, highlighting for the first time the creative strategies, tactics, and organizational decisions that made the lofty Allied objectives into a successful reality. In an even more significant way,Â Engineers of VictoryÂ has another claim to our attention, for it restores â€œthe middle level of warâ€ to its rightful place in history.

Praise for Engineers of Victory
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â€œSuperbly written and carefully documented . . . indispensable reading for anyone who seeks to understand how and why the Allies won.â€â€”The Christian Science Monitor
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â€œAn important contribution to our understanding of World War II . . . Like an engineer who pries open a pocket watch to reveal its inner mechanics, [Paul] Kennedy tells how little-known men and women at lower levels helped win the war.â€â€”Michael Beschloss, The New York Times Book Review
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â€œHistories of World War II tend to concentrate on the leaders and generals at the top who make the big strategic decisions and on the lowly grunts at the bottom. . . . [Engineers of Victory] seeks to fill this gap in the historiography of World War II and does so triumphantly. . . . This book is a fine tribute.â€â€”The Wall Street Journal
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â€œ[Kennedy] colorfully and convincingly illustrates the ingenuity and persistence of a few men who made all the difference.â€â€”The Washington Post

â€œThis superb book is Kennedyâ€™s best.â€â€”Foreign Affairs
Country USA
Brand Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer Random House
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2013-01-29
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781400067619

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer	Random House
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2013-01-29
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781400067619

Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned The Tide in the Second World War

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