Third Reich Victorious: Alternate Decisions of World War II - Softcover

3.73

271 ratings by Goodreads

9780345490155: Third Reich Victorious: Alternate Decisions of World War II

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345490150 ISBN 13: 9780345490155

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 2008

A "what-if" study of World War II looks at how the course of the war could have been altered key events had gone another way or if alternative decision had been made, in a volume featuring the contributions of ten leading historians who offer a collection of thought-provoking scenarios. Reprint.

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About the Author:

David Baker attributes his fascination with wine to a chance train stop in Beaune which led to time spent working in commercial vineyards, a film, a novel and a dozen years making passable pinot noir in his garage. He holds an MFA from Columbia College Chicago and is the director of American Wine Story. He currently lives in Oregon's Willamette Valley with his wife and daughter.

Review:

If you have an interest in the Second World War than this book is a must. It has a number of scenarios where various battles and campaigns that germany did badly in, went well for them. For example, what if Hitler had been in the German navy in WW1? For WW2, he might have realised that the key to making Britain keep out of the war was to cripple the Royal Navy. Or what if Hitler had made sure to keep all the German nuclear physicists that fled for Britain and the US? Might he have developed the atom bomb before he was defeated and used it on London and Moscow? What makes the book effective is that each scenario is written as if it were a history book and that is what happened. It never uses the words 'what if' - it pretends that the scenario is what happened. Only at the end does it say what really happened and how. A brilliant book in my opinion and a must-read for anyone with an interest in WW2 --By B. Taylor

As a history buff for some fifty years, I have until relatively recently avoided these 'alternative' histories on the basis that they are mere fantasy, often driven by the ideological sympathies of the writer, but a chance purchase of Sid Meier's splendid computer game [[ASIN:B0002LIAJK Civilization III Deluxe Gold Edition: Civilization III + Play The World + Conquests + Fan Kit changed my opinion completely. Having now spent several highly enjoyable years attempting to build a civilization (Roman, Greek, British Empire, Soviet etc... that will 'stand the test of time', I am now clearly aware that chance events have sometimes influenced human history enormously; just one real-life example being the discovery of steam power in Roman times, and its rejection as 'economically unviable' in the slave based economy of those times! When read from this viewpoint, 'Third Reich Victorious' raises some very interesting questions indeed. I now quote the summary printed on the cover:- "This book is a stimulating and entirely plausable insight into how Hitler and his generals might have defeated the Allies, and a convincing sideways look at the Third Reich's bid at global domination in World War II. What would have happened if, for example, the Germans had managed to capture the whole of the BEF at Dunkirk? Or if the RAF had been defeated in the Battle of Britain? What if the Red Army had really been shattered in the summer of 1941 or if Axis forces had achieved the conquest of North Africa?" The ten scenarios are:- 1. The Little Admiral, 1939. 2. Disaster at Dunkirk, 1940. 3. The Battle of Britain 1940. 4. The Storm and the Whirlwind. 5. The Hinge. 6. Into the Caucasus. 7. Known Enemies and Forced Allies. 8. Luftwaffe Triumphant. 9. Hitler's Bomb. 10.Rommel versus Zhukov. Obviously World War II was a highly industrialized war, and as other reviews make clear, long term strategic economic/production decisions taken during the 1930's were crucial, with Britain's development of the Spitfire fighter and long range bomber fleets, Russian research into tank design and America's construction of a 'two ocean navy' all being of major significance to it's course and outcome. This makes some scenarios more plausable than others, but each is followed by a section detailing 'the reality' on which it is based. To my mind the most plausable are 2, 3, 4 and 8; which back up the points made by David Hoffman in How Hitler Lost the War [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]. To conclude; this well written and highly entertaining book illustrates just how close Nazism came to emerging victorious from WWII; but Hitler and his generals misplayed the hand Fate had dealt them, with effects that have changed Western society irrevocably and for ever. --By C. W. Bradbury

An excellent collection of WWII what-ifs. If you have ever played Hearts of Iron you will recognize that many of the options from the Technology Tree. This basically allows you to change the strategy of the axis by changing their research emphasis to other areas such as Naval, Air and Nuclear. Most of the strategies in this book are built around changes in technology direction or changes in leadership. However having played loads of war games here are my tips for German Victory. 1. Don't Invade Russia - wait for them to come to you. 2. Build lots of fighter aircraft and naval bombers, take down the RAF and then bomb the royal navy to dust then invade, 3. give Rommel more troops in the desert and let him take the Middle East. --Lee Hanley

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