Moral Combat: Good and Evil in World War II - Hardcover

Burleigh, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060580976 ISBN 13: 9780060580971

Publisher: Harper, 2011

Synopsis

"Magnificent. . . . Seldom has a study of the past combined such erudition with such exuberance." —The Guardian 

"No-one with an interest in the Second World War should be without this book; and indeed nor should anyone who cares about how our world has come about." —The Daily Telegraph 

Pre-eminent WWII historian Michael Burleigh delivers a brilliant new examination of the day-to-day moral crises underpinning the momentous conflicts of the Second World War. A magisterial counterpart to his award-winning and internationally bestselling The Third Reich, winner of the Samuel Johnson prize, Moral Combat offers a unique and riveting look at, in the words of The Times (London), "not just the war planners faced with the prospect of bombing Dresden or the atrocities of the Holocaust, but also the individuals working at the coalface of war, killing or murdering, resisting or collaborating."

About this title

From the Back Cover

In this sweepingly ambitious overview of WorldWar II, Michael Burleigh combines meticulousscholarship with a remarkable depth of knowledgeand an astonishing scope. By exploring themoral sentiments of entire societies and their leaders,and how such attitudes changed under the impact oftotal war, Burleigh presents readers with a fresh andpowerful perspective on a conflict that continuesto shape world politics. Whereas previous historiesof the war have tended to focus on grand strategyor major battles, Burleigh brings his painstakingscholarship and profound sensibility to bear on thefactors that shaped choices that were life-and-deathdecisions. These choices were made in real time,without the benefit of a philosopher’s reflection,giving a moral content to the war that shaped it asdecisively as any battle.

Although the Nazis and the Japanese had radicallydifferent moral universes from those of theirAllied opponents, as rejected in the atrocities theycommitted, the Western Allies found themselvesaligned with a no less cruel dictatorship after rejectingthe option of appeasing aggression. The warwas the sum total of myriad choices made by governments,communities, and individuals, leadingsome to enthusiastically embrace evil and othersto consciously reject it, with a range of more ambiguouslyhuman responses in between. Spanningboth major theaters and ranging across these issuesand more, from the “predators” (Mussolini, Hitler,and Hirohito) to appeasement, from the rape ofPoland, Barbarossa, and strategic bombing to thecomplexities of justice and retribution, Moral Combatsheds a revealing light on how entire nationschanged under the shock of total war.

Emphasizing the role of the past in making senseof the present, Burleigh’s book offers essentialinsights into the choices we face today—in some circles it is always 1938 and every aggressor is a newHitler. If we do go to war, we need to know whatit will mean for the individuals who command and fight it. Original, perceptive, and astonishing inscholarship and scope, this is an unforgettable andhugely important work of Second World War history.

About the Author

Michael Burleigh is the author of Earthly Powers, Sacred Causes, and The Third Reich: A New History, which won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction. He is married and lives in London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0060580976
• ISBN 13: 9780060580971
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 672