Synopses & Reviews
Visions of Victory explores the views of eight war leaders of the major powers of World War II - Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Chiang Kai-shek, Stalin, Churchill, de Gaulle, and Roosevelt - and compares their visions of the future. Astonishing in its synthesis and scope, Weinberg's comparison of the individual portraits of the war-time leaders is a highly-original and compelling study of history that might have been. What emerges is a startling picture of postwar worlds: besides the extermination of the Jews, Hitler intended Germans to inhabit all of Eastern Europe. Both Mussolini and Hitler intended to have extensive colonies in Africa. Churchill hoped to see the re-emergence of the British and French empires. De Gaulle wanted to annex the northwest corner of Italy. Stalin wanted to and achieved control of Eastern Europe. Roosevelt's vision of the future was the closest to being fulfilled, including, the establishment of the United Nations.
Synopsis
Gerhard Weinberg's comparison of eight of the WWII leaders and history that might have been.
About the Author
Gerhard L. Weinberg is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the origins and course of World War II, including A World At Arms: A Global History of World War II (Cambridge, 1994), which won the George Louis Beer Prize of the American Historical Association, and Germany, Hitler, and World War II (Cambridge, 1995).
Table of Contents
1. Adolf Hitler; 2. Benito Mussolini; 3. Tojo Hideki; 4. Chiang Kai-shek; 5. Josef Stalin; 6. Winston Churchill; 7. Charles de Gaulle; 8. Franklin D. Roosevelt; 9. The real postwar world.