The Storm of War — Andrew Roberts

Roberts examines the Second World War through the question of why Germany lost — not, as is commonly assumed, simply because it was outnumbered and outproduced, but because Hitler's ideological commitments overrode military logic at crucial moments. The book is a study in the relationship between ideology and strategy: in how a particular worldview — racist, social-Darwinist, contemptuous of military professionalism — systematically undermined Germany's considerable military capacity. Roberts is more interested in explaining defeat than in celebrating victory, which makes this an unusually rigorous account.

'Roberts writes military history with the clarity, pace and authority of the very best practitioners. The Storm of War is his finest work.' — Daily Telegraph. 'Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why the Second World War ended as it did.' — Literary Review