Richard Overy's 'Why The Allies Won'

Why the Allies Won, Critical Book Review

In Richard Overy’s, Why the Allies Won, Overy portrays his thoughts regarding the Second World War. He does so not telling the history of the war, stating “there are plenty of those already” (preface), but rather by explaining the outcome of it. He makes sure to focus on key points throughout the war that have caused great controversies over the years; specifically, Overy says that he focused first on combat, then on production, technology, politics, and morale. Chapter by chapter, Overy hits these key points by providing new logic and ideas to the reader. He gives a new outlook that expands further than just the fighting aspect that most rely on for an explanation. Overy brings up the common belief that the Allies

With the uprising of Germany, and the beginning of submarine warfare, the Allies used “tactical and technical innovation” (pg 62) to gain a victory against the Japanese Navy, further elaborating on Overy’s more than combat outlook. In chapter three, we see wars becoming more intense. Hitler made the decision to attack Russia over Britain because he did not want to make enemies with Britain, and with Russia he had a greater chance of the outcome ending in his favor. With the Battle of Kursk, the Russian submarine’s success became, according to Overy, “the most important single victory of the war” (pg. 96). This was because the Soviets had located themselves perfectly to where, if the Axis powers were to attack, they would have been clearly visible. Because of this and other factors, Hitler kept putting off the attack, giving Russia a large lead in the battle. With the next coming chapters, the wars continue to grow more violent. Bombing tactics started to become more popular, and Overy even stated that Ally leaders felt that “strategic bombing as a way of conducting war was here to stay” (pg. 109). Next came the invasion of France, which further