There had never before been a war on the scale of World War II. The sheer size of the conflict and the immense scope of a single battlefield, multiplied the effects of both brilliant and bad decisions. When millions of men are attacking in a Russian offensive or thousands of aircraft are dueling in the skies over Europe, every key decision had dramatic, and often disastrous, results. The author of How to Lose a Battle and How to Lose a War introduces the catastrophic missteps, including: Poland's lack of preparation for the Nazi invasion; Germany's failure to take Britain out of the war at Dunkirk; Russia playing Goliath to Finland's David; Allied forces getting trapped for four months on the beaches of Anzio; Germany wasting its costly development of jet power.

Introduction	p. xiii
How the Western Powers Paved Hitler's Road to War: Europe, 1936-1939	p. 1
Between a Hard Place and Another Even Harder Place: Poland, September 1939	p. 8
The Silent Catastrophe of the Sitzkrieg: October 1939-April 1940	p. 14
Blitzkrieg in the North: Scandinavia, April-June 1940	p. 23
Invading Norway: April 1940	p. 34
The Blitzkrieg Comes of Age: France, May-June 1940	p. 42
One That Got Away: Dunkirk, May-June 1940	p. 52
Sure, Have the Uncommitted Run German Military Intelligence: Germany, 1935-1945	p. 58
We've Almost Won, So Let's Change the Plan!: The Battle of Britain, August-September 1940	p. 65
Sacrificing Africa and Greece: September 1940-April 1941	p. 73
Good Ideas Turn into Dead Ends: April 1941-December 1944	p. 80
The Battle of Crete: Eastern Mediterranean, May 1941	p. 86
Germany Won't Attack Us!: Mascow, Summer 1941	p. 92
Battle of Moscow: September 1941-January 1942	p. 100
The Not-So-Master Race Declares War: Berlin, December 1941	p. 107
Battle of Stalingrad: Russia, August 1942-February 1943	p. 115
Marshal Georgi Zhukov Loses a Battle and the Soviets Cover It Up: Russia, the Rzhev Salient, November-December 1942	p. 122
Battle of Kasserine Pass: Tunisia, February 1943	p. 129
The Battle of Kursk: Russia, July 1943	p. 136
Raids on Ploesti and Schweinfurt: August 1943 and October 1943	p. 143
Battle of Ortona: Italy, December 1943	p. 150
Nothing Goes Right in Italy: September 1943 and June 1944	p. 156
Crossing the Rapido River: Italy, January 1944	p. 161
Operations at Anzio: January-May 1944	p. 167
The Bomber Will Screw Up... Most of the Time: February 1944 and July 1944	p. 174
The Battle of the D-day Beaches: Normandy, France, June 1944	p. 181
Battle of Normandy: France, June-July 1944	p. 187
The Gap at Falaise: France, August 1944	p. 193
The Battle of Arnhem: Netherlands, September 1944	p. 199
Battle of Huertgen Forest: September-November 1944	p. 206
Caught Napping, or Hitler's Greatest Gamble: Allied and Axis Intelligence Failures at the Battle of the Bulge, 1944	p. 213
The Wehrmacht's Last Gasp: Belgium, December 1944-January 1945	p. 219
The Hand of God Protects the Führer: Germany, 1933-1945	p. 226
Who Is Waiting in the FBI Headquarters' Lobby?: Washington, D.C., December 1941	p. 234
Aryan Competition Breeds Nazi Contempt: Germany, 1939-1945	p. 243
United States Intelligence Failures: Europe, 1941-1944	p. 255
Luftwaffe Pilot Training: Germany, 1939-1945	p. 263
Tanks for the Memories: World War II's Best and Worst Tanks	p. 272
The Story of the Messerschmitt 262: Germany, 1944-1945	p. 281
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