Cry Havoc: How the Arms Race Drove the World to War, 1931-1941

by Joseph Maiolo

Paperback, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

940.5311

Collection

Publication

Basic Books (2012), Edition: First Trade Paper Edition, 504 pages

Description

Did the arms race of the 1930s cause the Second World War? In Cry Havoc, historian Joseph Maiolo shows, in rich detail, how the deadly game of the arms race was played out in the decade prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. In this exhaustively researched account, he explores how nations reacted to the moves of their rivals, revealing the thinking of those making the key decisions--Hitler, Mussolini, Chamberlain, Stalin, Roosevelt--and the dilemmas of democratic leaders who seemed to be faced with a choice between defending their nations and preserving their democratic way of life. This unparalleled account of an era of extreme political tension shows how the interwar arms race shaped the outcome of World War II before the shooting even began.--From publisher description.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Shrike58
While I'm impressed with the research that went into this study, I also have to concure that Maiolo's efforts to tie the expression of the logic of total war that is an arms race to diplomatic developments doesn't quite come off. Perhaps the problem is that this book seems to sit uneasily between
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being a comparative study of the mobilization theories of the Great Powers in the Inter-War Period and a narrative history of the Thirties as an arms race. Another issue might simply be that I've read enough of Maiolo's sources that there's no way that this book can seem that fresh, though he is to be complimented on treating the twentieth century's history of arms races as a continuum and his prose does have snap.
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LibraryThing member agingcow2345
The author has a thesis of the arms race driving the diplomacy instead of the reverse. He's done a good job of researching the arms race but a less than stellar job of tying it to either the diplomacy or the internal politics. He also sees the need to make comments about things such as the US Bonus
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March that he clearly has no grasp of. This is a useful synthesis of the arms race but of little use to anyone who does not know the rest of the period well. Pity as the thesis is interesting.
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

504 p.; 5.75 inches

ISBN

046503229X / 9780465032297

Barcode

91100000176775

DDC/MDS

940.5311
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